Down to the Wire
by browneyedgirl29
Summary: Statistical Impossibilities #3. In the midst of preparing to graduate the Academy, a distress signal from Vulcan throws everyone's lives into chaos. Karina and Chekov have their hands full as their assignment to the Enterprise hangs in the balance. And when Camille finally admits her feelings to Bones, will it be too late? Bones/OC, slight Chekov/OC.
1. Academy Days

**Normally, I save my author's notes until the end of the first chapter, if I do any in the first chapter at all. But this isn't necessarily an author's note. It's more of a dedication.**

 **As I've told you all in previous installments, I have this series pre-written. I began it in September 2015, not too long after I became a Trekkie. (If you noticed any discrepancies in the accuracy of certain things in my previous installments, especially Breathe, I blame it on my being relatively new to the world of Star Trek.)**

 **There's really no need to tell you all who my favorite characters are. Considering the fact that this series has focused on them, I'm particularly fond of Bones, Jim, and Chekov - but especially Chekov.**

 **When you get attached to a character, you automatically tend to get attached to the person who plays them. You all know this, of course. And it certainly rang true in this case. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been more attached to an actor or actress than I was to Anton Yelchin. Why am I bringing this up now, when I could have done it any time in previous installments?**

 **Because I finished writing this particular installment on June 18th, 2016. That day shouldn't mean that much to you, but the next one should.**

 **I won't lie. I considered not continuing this series after this one. I had a massively long timeline planned out, but it could very easily end with this third installment. And honestly, writing it was kind of hard for a while after Anton's death. I ended up taking a break from the series for a while, because how do you grieve for someone you never even knew, but who meant a lot to you?**

 **I decided to continue, however. After finishing up posting Echoes of the Past, I waited to post this one until the new year, mostly because I'm fairly big on symbolism, and I think it's symbolic of leaving the past in the past. But leaving the past behind doesn't mean you forget. And it doesn't mean that the events or people you leave there are any less important.**

 **Also, because it's 2017. There are other reasons I find that symbolic for this particular installment. :)**

 **I've already written my tribute fic. You can check it out, if you want. It's called We're Not Ready, and I published it back in September. This isn't my tribute, but I would like to dedicate it. In my opinion, there's a difference. It wasn't written for Anton specifically, but every installment of this series from here on out, I will always write with him on my mind. So here goes:**

 _ **In Memory of Anton Yelchin**_

* * *

Captain Christopher Pike looked up at the knock on his open door. "Spock," he said. "I was just about to head out for the day. Something on your mind?"

Spock, as cold as ever, said, "I am troubled by numerous things, Captain, but one specifically which I have come to address with you."

Pike gestured for him to sit down. It was generally protocol for the lower ranking officer to remain standing, but Pike disliked that particular piece of regulation. He reserved it for reprimands. Spock, however, chose to remain standing, typical of his Vulcan compulsion for rule-following.

Pike frowned and studied his future first officer. There wasn't much to distinguish Spock as a human, but for his eyes. They were human, closely resembling those of the commander's mother. Not a lot of people knew this, but Pike had actually been a friend of Amanda Grayson's when they were young. It had never been anything more. In fact, he'd regarded her much as a younger sister. So he found it utterly confounding that such a warm, congenial woman could have given birth to such an emotionless being as Spock.

Though, having met Sarek, Spock's father, Pike supposed it wasn't too off-beat of an assumption that _his_ offspring would be this way.

Yet Pike knew that a bit of Amanda resided in her son, and he was determined to draw it out, or at least see it drawn out. Spock had never completed Kolinahr, the Vulcan ceremony to purge himself of all emotion, so there must have been some human left in him. And Pike would be damned if he didn't find it when this man served under him.

It had partly been because of his friendship with Spock's mother that he'd requested her son as his first officer. Though Spock's impressive record with Starfleet certainly did not hurt. Shaking these thoughts aside, Pike sat back in his chair and gestured for Spock to speak.

"Say your piece, Commander."

Dare he say it, Spock looked almost – sheepish? Yes, yes that was the term. Pike felt a slight surge of victory as the human side of Spock slipped through.

"I have come to discuss the matter of the Communications officers on the _Enterprise_ ," Spock began. Pike bit back a sigh of exasperation. They'd been over this numerous times, and he was about two headaches away from giving Spock a good tongue lashing and a reprimand for questioning his judgment.

"I don't see what we have left to discuss, Commander," he said. "I have already told you, on the _Enterprise_ 's first mission, I will test whether Cadet Bartowski has been successful in her endeavor to my satisfaction, and if so – "

"It was not Cadet Bartowski to whom I was referring, Captain," Spock interrupted.

Taken a bit aback by the interruption, Pike vaguely wondered if mentioning Karina Bartowski had somehow invoked her presence, making it invade the room. Lord knew the cadet interrupted him enough as it was, and there had to be _some_ explanation for why Spock had decided to do so, right?

"I was referring to Cadet Uhura," Spock continued.

Pike frowned. They were back to this. "I understand that for all protocol purposes, she's earned the position, Spock. But I don't think we can exactly ignore the fact that Cadet Bartowski was instrumental in saving Starfleet at least once last year, if not twice." Though he still wasn't entirely sure if the incident with the Russians counted.

"I had not come to insinuate that the cadet was unqualified for the position, nor undeserving," Spock said. "I apologize if my previous visits have caused you to leap to that conclusion."

 _What was your first clue?_ Pike wondered.

"Cadets Bartowksi and Uhura have both shown prowess in their field," Spock said. "Which is why I believe, Captain, that it would only be fair to transfer the lieutenant to another starship, where she could serve in the capacity for which she is trained, for which she is fully capable."

Pike frowned. "You seem to be fond of Uhura, Spock," he said. Well, as fond as a Vulcan could be of someone. "Is there a particular reason to request her transfer to another ship, besides the one you have mentioned? Even if she were transferred, more than likely she'd be serving in the same capacity that she would be on the _Enterprise_. I know you wouldn't suggest this if there weren't a logical reason behind it, Commander."

Pike's jaw nearly dropped. Spock was _squirming_. It was the sort of squirming you wouldn't notice if a human did it, just an uncomfortable shifting in his chair. But with Spock, it was the most noticeable thing imaginable. What could possibly cause him to –

Suddenly it clicked for him. Christopher Pike was torn between rubbing his aching forehead in frustration and laughing out loud.

"Spock," he began, trying to keep his voice steady. "You didn't."

Spock remained uncomfortable.

"You haven't."

"I'm afraid I have, Captain," Spock replied. "I accept the consequences of my actions and will fully endorse whatever – "

"Consequences?" Pike sputtered. "My word, man! Senior officers have affairs with their cadets every day! Not that I've ever done it. Be that as it may, I still _should_ report it." Pausing, Pike frowned, considering the matter. "And you still haven't explained why you want Uhura transferred. If anything, this should make you want her on the Enterprise all the more! So why would you recommend her transferal?"

Spock raised an eyebrow, as though his reasons should have been obvious. "To avoid the appearance of favoritism, of course, Captain."

Pike's mind was made up. He was officially going with the rubbing his aching forehead option.

"Naturally," he said. "It's only the logical thing to do, am I right?"

"Precisely, sir."

"And you don't fear the consequences this may have in your relationship with the cadet in the long run?"

Spock frowned. "Cadet Uhura will react in whichever way she chooses. To fear that which one cannot control is illogical."

Coming from anyone but Spock, that would have sounded nothing short of blasé. Pike knew better. Spock was incapable of such a thing.

"I will…consider it, Commander," he began. In spite of the deal he had made with Cadet Bartowski, to lose Cadet Uhura's services would be a blow to the _Enterprise._

"Captain Everett of the _USS Farragut_ expressed interest, sir," Spock went on.

Pike rolled his eyes. "Of course, he did," he replied. _Of course,_ you _did_ , he thought. "I'll speak to Everett and see what I can do. Mind you, this means nothing. I may be rewarding Bartowski, but having the first in class in most of the fields available will be preferable."

"If I may speak freely, sir?"

 _Haven't you already been?_ "I welcome it, Commander."

"Cadet Osbourne is top of her class. As are Cadets McCoy, Sulu, and Chekov – "

"Chekov isn't a for sure yet," Pike interjected, suddenly glad Spock was here. He'd never been able to remember the Russian kid's name, and it had been rather awkward not bringing him up the entire conversation, though he was a rather important component in this situation.

"Even so, should these not be sufficient for your purposes? Surely the fact that we are the newest starship in the fleet alone should not be enough to monopolize all of the best cadets."

Spock was appealing to Pike's sense of accountability and fairness, and he didn't like it. And all the while, he knew the commander was subtly hinting that he wanted a definite answer. Hating the feeling of manipulation, Pike decided being generous just this once couldn't hurt.

"Very well, Commander. I will see to Cadet Uhura's transfer. Dismissed."

* * *

Cadets milled about across the Starfleet commons, their red uniforms flashing against the blue San Francisco sky. The city had recently employed anti-smog deflectors, which were doing wonders for the overall atmosphere. The austere white Academy building loomed large against the horizon. Most first-year cadets found that structure rather intimidating, foreboding even.

But for the four cadets descending the stairs from the Academy, this was nothing short of home.

Well, one of them might not consider it as such. Leonard "Bones" McCoy looked over at Jim Kirk, who had a far too ecstatic grin on his face for Bones' personal comfort. "Why are you so happy?"

Next to Bones, Camille Osbourne rolled her eyes and Karina Bartowski, on the other side of Jim, merely flipped through some papers she'd been holding and muttering to herself about, not even aware of what was going on around her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jim replied.

"No, I don't suppose you do," Bones quipped, by this point not even shocked enough to be exasperated.

Jim eyed a pair of female cadets who passed on Karina's right. Of course, the kid didn't notice a thing, but Jim was never going to pass up an opportunity to flirt.

"Hel _lo_ , ladies," he said. Neither of them gave him a second glance, but it didn't seem to faze him.

Camille reached across Bones and smacked Jim on the arm as they walked. "Can you keep it under control for one minute, Romeo, and answer Bones' question? I, for one, am very curious."

"I'm taking the test again," Jim replied, as though commenting on the weather.

That got even Karina's attention. Camille's jaw dropped, and Bones exclaimed, "You've gotta be kidding!"

"Yeah, tomorrow morning, and I want you there. All of you."

Bones glared. "You know, I've got better things to do than watch you embarrass yourself for a third time."

"I don't," Camille muttered, receiving a death glare from the doctor.

"Unfortunately, I do, too," Karina said, going back to flipping through the stack of papers. "Sorry, Jim, my day tomorrow is pretty packed."

"Again?" Camille groaned. "Kari, we never see you anymore!"

"Can't be helped, Cam. Once we're on the _Enterprise_ , you can see me as much as you like."

"Yeah, yeah, Kari's got her hands full with the Russian kid. Anyway, point is: I'm a doctor, Jim. I'm busy," Bones continued, the growl evident in his voice.

"Bones, it doesn't bother you that no one's passed the test?"

"Jim, it's the Kobayashi Maru. _No one_ passes the test, and no one goes back for seconds, let alone thirds."

"Much as I hate to admit it, Jim, he's got a point," Camille interjected.

Jim looked to Karina, hoping to get some support from his little ally, but she was, once more, fully immersed in what was in front of her. Shaking it off, Jim turned back to the other two and clapped Bones on the shoulder. "I gotta study."

Bones shook his head as he and the girls made their way in the opposite direction. "Study, my ass," he muttered.

Camille shrugged. "You know, the least we can do is be there for him, Bones. He may be a glutton for punishment, but he's _our_ glutton for punishment. Besides, I kind of like the Kobayashi Maru." When he gave her a look clearly questioning her sanity, she shrugged. "What? How often do I get to have my console explode and not die? It's kind of fun, if I'm being quite honest with you."

Bones rolled his eyes. "You're unbelievable, woman."

"I know," she said, grinning impishly. Then she affected a glare and turned to Karina. "However, you know what's even more unbelievable? The fact that I room with this kid and she isn't even _around_ half the time. I mean, I've heard of workaholics, Kar, but you may just be the worst I've ever met."

Karina raised an eyebrow at her. "Fine, Cam. _You_ try teaching someone English in under a year. Then we can talk. 'Kay?"

Camille laughed it off. In the end, she knew Karina was just doing what she had to do and wasn't purposefully neglecting them. "So how _is_ Yoko doing, out of curiosity?"

Karina, not inclined to understand sarcasm when feeling slightly attacked, rolled her eyes. "For the last time, his name's Pavel. And second of all, great, actually. I think we can do this. I mean, what's the earliest time we could get called onto the _Enterprise_? Four months. No problem."

"And do you actually talk in anything besides Russian, or is that a thing of the past yet?" Bones asked.

Karina glanced up at him, then frowned. Abruptly, she said, "Incidentally, this is where I part ways with you two. See you later tonight, Cam."

Camille called after her retreating back, "If I'm not asleep by the time you get home!"

Still distracted by what was in her hands, Karina found herself nearly running into someone, until a pair of very familiar hands reached out and grabbed her, stopping her dead in her tracks. "Don't even think about it."

Upon hearing the Russian words, she looked up and grinned. "Haven't I broken the habit by now?"

* * *

"The man has to be a masochist," Bones muttered, pacing back and forth in Camille and Karina's room. "That's the only possible explanation. Why else would he do this to himself?"

Camille, sitting on her bed criss cross, just listened, smiling to herself.

"It's bad enough that you're constantly injuring yourself and Karina's getting herself involved in one international and or galactic crisis after another, but you'd think Jim would have mercy on my poor nerves and try to conserve at least a little bit of his dignity, right?"

"You really care about him, don't you?" Camille asked out of the blue.

Bones snorted in derision, then shrugged. "I suppose so, dammit."

Camille grinned. "How on earth could I tell?" Sliding her feet out so she was sitting on the edge of the bed, she asked, "So, how's Joanna doing?"

Bones face softened a little at the mention of his five-year-old daughter. He slid into Karina's desk chair and shook his head. Camille felt a bit of trepidation.

"What is it, Bones? Is she okay?"

Bones threw his hands up in the air.

"She's perfectly fine! It's my parents I'm having troubles with. They insist that Joanna's better off with them. That she's used to them by now, and that I shouldn't uproot her from her home when I didn't even have the nerve to stay with her there. Well, did I mention to them that her mother is still out there, and still crazy? It's better for everyone involved if Nancy doesn't know where I am. And if I went back home, she'd know!"

Camille's heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way. "You – you've considered moving back to Georgia, then?"

Bones seemed to realize what he'd let slip. Sighing, he sat back in the chair.

"I have to think about what's best for her, Cam," he said. "If I had my choice, no. I would do no such thing. But she needs her father. However, it would be safer for her to have him here, in San Francisco, where her crazy mother can't track her. If she knows I have Joanna…" His voice trailed off as he considered the unthinkable. "She'd take her. Disappear from the face of the planet, possibly literally. Not because she wants to have her daughter, but because she knows it'll cause me pain. And I will never see her again."

There was silence in the room for a long moment. Camille contemplated the possibility of Bones leaving Starfleet. If she'd been in his place, what would she have done? Dropping off the face of the earth with his daughter, like his wife would do if she got the chance to, seemed like the best plausible option.

But Camille didn't want Bones to leave, for goodness sake. The man was so much more than a friend to her by now. It wasn't mutually established, but she was pretty sure he knew how she felt, and she could tell he felt the exact same way. It had been simply a matter of him getting over himself and his stubborn Southern ways so far and just admitting it.

If Camille were being honest, it was a bit of a pride thing for her, as well. She would not take anything less than Bones making the first move. But if he left Starfleet…

Was she going to regret not telling him what had been on her mind – and heart – for so long?

* * *

"Okay…explain to me the difference between a prodigy and a prodigal."

Seeing right through that lame attempt, Chekov gave Karina a look. "You're just bored at this point, aren't you?"

She glared right back at him. "Hey, didn't we say it was English from here on out, mister?"

He shrugged. "I don't particularly remember there being a 'we' about it…"

When her glare grew more intense, he threw his hands up in resignation and said, "Fine." Switching over from Russian to English, he said, "A prodigy is…" His voice trailed off. "Vy is your language so confusing, Karina? Zeese words are so close together."

She rolled her eyes and began to explain. Chekov smiled to himself. He knew Karina liked to think she had him wrapped around her finger – and, if he was being honest, she kind of did. But manipulation was something he'd learned from a young age. You kind of had to know it when your father was an illegal arms dealer who murdered people on a regular basis, for no particular reason than that it was just an unspoken rule. So he could do a bit of finger-wrapping of his own.

No, he knew the definition of both terms. He just liked hearing her give it.

"Okay, if only to refresh your memory," she began, then noticed him grinning. "What?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"So, a prodigy is…what you are," she said, and he was a little taken aback.

"Zat vas new," he commented.

"Maybe if I apply it, it'll stick," Karina continued. "Anyway, you're a prodigy. It means someone smarter or better at something than most their age. You, for example… Well, if we're not applying the 'smarter in general' thing here, we're going to go with you're better at Starfleet's entrance exams than most. That make sense?"

Chekov nodded. "So, vouldn't zat make you a prodigy, too, zen?"

She shrugged. "Ah. The only thing I'm really better at is speaking multiple languages. I'm not a genius or anything, that's for sure. The only reason I got into Starfleet was because they recruit from orphanages all the time, on nothing but the word of their contacts at said orphanage. These tend to be fairly reliable people. Mine was actually a woman who served as a Communications officer for several years before taking her vows. So, there's me. Completely average, yet still in Starfleet."

His eyes were popping out of his head, he was sure. There she sat, fully unaware of just how smart she was, playing it off like it was nothing. It didn't exactly come natural to a fool to teach themselves twenty different languages, yet she'd done it, and she was completely discrediting herself.

Chekov didn't have long to contemplate this, however, because she'd moved her eyes away from her hands, where they'd been only two seconds earlier, back up to him. Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you staring at me, Pavel Chekov?"

For not the first time in his life, he physically felt his mind backpedaling and forced himself to blink. " _Net_ ," he said, also not for the first time in his life – in this entire friendship, for that matter – totally lying about that fact. "So, vat about ze other vord… prodigal?"

Karina, seeming to his utter relief to forget about the last bit of their conversation, actually brightened up a bit. With her disposition normally sunny nowadays, he didn't think it was possible, but there it was.

"Prodigal? Oh, well, that's a bit more like what I am. I'm pretty sure if the nuns found out all the international and/or intergalactic crises I'd gotten myself involved in, they'd be pretty disappointed in me. I don't exactly fit the definition of 'meek and quiet spirit' that they attempted to drill into us girls."

Chekov had to at least half smile at that one. No, in fact, she did not. Karina wasn't what you'd call intimidating – though sometimes she had a tendency to leave him tongue-tied. But she wasn't exactly quiet, either. Often he wondered if just by being friends with her for a little under a year he'd need hearing aids at an early age. It wasn't that she was loud. Just constantly chattering about something.

"Vell, vouldn't I fit zat too, zen? I mean, I don't exactly make my father proud, if you know what I mean."

Karina, not seeing his point, immediately leapt to his defense. "Yeah, but your father is sitting on his evil butt in a prison somewhere in the middle of the Mojave Desert. His opinion is invalid."

" _Da_ , but vat I vas actually saying… Both of zese terms vould apply to both of us, right?"

Seeming to see his point of view, she grinned. "We're a pair of prodigals and prodigies."

"Good alliteration."

"Nice identification of literary device."

They fell into a rare silence for a few moments – well, rare for Karina. Then she asked, "So, how's your sister doing?"

Slightly uncomfortable, Chekov shrugged. "Good, as far as I know."

"As far as you know? Wait…" Karina frowned. "Pavel, have you made any contact with her since your father got arrested?"

" _I_ hef! She's the one who's not responding."

"Why not?"

"Do I look as zo I know?" Chekov asked, his frustration evident. Karina decided to let the subject drop.

"Have you heard from Captain Pike?" she asked, in an attempt to assuage what had gone down.

He looked up, his eyes narrowed. "No, hef you? In ze last six months?"

"Not really…" Karina said, her eyebrows creasing in worry.

Neither of them said it, but they were certainly thinking it: Had Pike forgotten about them? Was the man irritated with the trouble the pair of them had caused back in January? In their defense, it had mostly been the older Mr. Chekov who'd caused that, but, as the Starfleet cadets involved, some of the responsibility had to fall on them, as well, of course.

Karina hadn't heard from Pike since he'd called her in to meet someone who used to work with her dad. She'd told Chekov about the encounter and he, personally, figured that was why she'd been in such a good mood the past six months. It had everything to do with all of the mystery surrounding her parent's deaths being cleared up, and he was glad for it. Karina had been fun to be around even in her moody state, but he did rather like the happy version of her.

"Ken we svitch back to Russian yet?" he asked, hoping once more to break the silence.

Shaking her head as though to clear it, Karina said, "Yeah, of course. Sorry. Just figured I'd test out your English abilities. You're doing great at this, Pavel. Seriously, there's not much more I can teach you. It's just a matter of waiting until we graduate and then getting Pike's approval once we're on the _Enterprise_."

If he still wanted them there.

"What do you think our first mission will be?"

Karina shrugged. "Something relatively simple, no doubt. It'll be the ship's maiden voyage, after all. They won't want to risk too much." She paused, then asked the question each was wondering about the other. "You nervous?"

He considered hiding it for a moment, then thought better of it. Why lie when it was so utterly far from the truth? "Sure. Aren't you?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

In fact, Karina was more nervous than she'd ever been in her life, but she was normally such a confident person, she didn't want to lose that image, even with Pavel, who was one of her best friends. Not just yet, anyway. She figured there would be enough time to show her nervousness the first day on the job.

However, he gave her that look, and she sighed. How was he so good at reading her? She'd seen him try to read other people before, and he was actually pretty good at it. But when he got it wrong, things got explosive. In fact, she was fairly certain he'd come rather close to getting punched in the face by Juliet on occasion. He was bound and determined that Juliet had hidden feelings for Sulu and, in a rare moment of tactlessness on his part, had mentioned it. Karina had had to diffuse that situation rather quickly.

"How do you do that?" she asked him flat out. "You never can do that with anyone else."

Chekov shrugged. In all honesty, he used to be able to do it with most people, but he wasn't sure what had happened since he'd come to Starfleet. Perhaps it was the year of near isolation, but he just wasn't as in tune to the emotions of other people as he used to be. Unless, for some odd reason, it was Karina. He could read her effortlessly.

"Well, if it satisfies you, yes, I _am_ a little nervous," she said, still insisting on downplaying it. "But I think we'll be okay, you know? Like I said, you're getting good at this."

She glanced down at her communicator. "Good lord, were you aware it was midnight?"

Chekov shook his head. "I wasn't keeping track."

Karina smirked. "Well, that's a first." She stood, grabbing her bag. "See you tomorrow, then?"

He returned the smirk. "See you then."

Karina made her way down the corridors. Glancing around the corner, she found herself glaring at Uhura's room. Why, she didn't know. Ever since she'd found out the older cadet was her competition for the position on the _Enterprise_ , and even more so since Captain Pike had stopped contacting her, Karina had become almost a bit of a stalker to Uhura. She wouldn't have even known where her room was before, but now every time she passed by, she just had to eye it disdainfully.

The last thing she expected, however, was to see James Tiberius Kirk being shoved out in nothing but his underwear, an infuriated Uhura standing in the doorway, also down to nothing but her delicates.

"No! Good night!"

"I think the fact that you picked up a transmission is very interesting – "

Whatever else he was going to say was cut off by the slamming door sliding shut right in front of his face.

He turned away, that devilish grin on his face, but it disappeared as soon he whirled and saw her standing there.

The look of irritation on her face said it all. Not even Jim knew of Karina's rivalry with Uhura, but he'd somehow gotten the impression she wasn't exactly fond of the woman. The guilt on his face was apparent, and Karina couldn't help but smirk a little, slightly satisfied with the fact that she could strike fear into his heart.

"I swear, it wasn't – not her – I mean – no," he finished lamely.

Karina shook her head, laughing. "Oh, pipe down, Jim, I know your type runs more toward Gaila. Why would you have a human when you could have an Orion, anyway?"

"You know me far too well, kid," Jim said, beginning to re-don his pants.

"Of course I do. Now go get some sleep. You need to be fully awake if you're going to make a fool of yourself a third time."

"Sure you don't want to be my communications expert for this one?" Jim asked, the look in his eyes almost pleading. Sheepishly, he glanced back at Uhura's door, and then turned back to her. "That one is slightly scary."

Karina laughed. "Sorry, Jim. I actually do have class during the test, okay? I'm not just ditching you guys again."

Jim shrugged, now fully clothed, and straightened up. "If you say so, kid."

As she walked off down the hallway, he looked after her, shaking his head and walking back toward his room. "I give it two months," he said, mentally making a wager with himself.


	2. Kobayashi Maru

**Chapter Two: In which James Tiberius Kirk supposedly does the impossible and there are adorable things. That is all.**

 **For those of you who have been wondering how I picture Camille and Karina, I've included a brief description in my profile. I've only included basics, such as hair color, eye color, and height, but I leave what their faces look like up to you! There's also a description of Juliet. I apologize if I haven't been descriptive enough.**

 **I own nothing but my OCs! Please review! (Shout out to Frosted Dreams 1234 and booksfoodmusic-minion for being my first reviewers!)**

* * *

Camille glanced around, waiting for Uhura to start the simulation with the opening line that the communications officer normally delivered. She looked over at Bones, who was sitting there fuming. Reaching over and poking him, she said, "Hey, lighten up, cowboy. It'll be fun."

He shook his head, unable to be cheered even by her. "Like I said yesterday, I have better things to do with my time."

 _You think I don't?_ Camille thought, rolling her eyes. Bones was simply whining about what they were all thinking. This test wasn't exactly enjoyable, as much as she tried to make the best of it. It required being tossed about violently as soon as the explosions started, and they inevitably would. No one had passed this thing yet, and there was no way to pass it as far as she knew.

However, Jim had seemed rather cocky about the matter earlier, so she wondered if he maybe didn't have something devious up his sleeve. She wouldn't put it past the man in the least.

Uhura whirled, her face set in irritation. Camille had no idea what had put the stick up her butt, but she was definitely unhappy with Jim about _something_. Camille allowed her mind to stray briefly in a direction that she wouldn't put too far past Jim, but the look Uhura was sending his way said something far different.

A fake smile pasted on her face and her voice short and clipped, Uhura said, "We are receiving a distress signal from the _USS Kobayashi Maru_. The ship has lost power and is stranded. Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them."

Jim, his tone reeking of arrogance and playing the part remarkably well, turned from her to face the front of the bridge and Camille and Bones' position. "Starfleet Command has ordered us to rescue them… Captain."

Bones rolled his eyes, Uhura's fake smile disappeared in place of an utterly peeved look, and Camille bit back a smile as she turned to her job. Bones was posing as a weapons specialist, she was posing as the pilot. This wasn't the position either of them would take when they were on the _Enterprise_ , and Camille was a bit miffed that Bones got to take her desired spot, but it was currently the most convenient spot for them both, and the test administrators weren't big on that particular accuracy.

A siren rang out through the bridge, nearly making Camille jump out of her skin. Reminding herself this was just a simulation, that she would have to face worse situations than this every day while on the job, she forced herself into calm and turned to her station.

"Two Klingon vessels have entered the neutral zone and are locking weapons on us," Bones said from his position next to her, for all his talk of annoyance taking up his position with ease.

Jim, his voice completely calm, did the last thing Camille would have expected. "That's okay."

Forgetting herself temporarily, Camille whirled in her seat to stare at him, her jaw dropping. Yet there was no trace of jest on his face, only the same arrogance and captainly calmness from before. Bones, however, was too used to Jim to be shocked by anything the man said any more. He turned slightly and said more out of a sense of obligation to clear things up for everyone else, "That's okay?"

Camille couldn't help but smirk a little. Even in his completely unperturbed state, Bones was unable to keep the faintest trace of irritation out of his tone.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Jim said.

Camille winced. The test administrators had to hate Jim at this point. Even she was shocked to see just how much he appeared to take this thing with a grain of salt. Why did he even come back?

Turning back to her post, she fought back a wave of shock. This test was damn good at appearing real. Camille didn't understand how Jim could remain calm – or how Bones could just appear to not care. _She_ was fairly well convinced they were all going to die in a few minutes.

"Three more Klingon warbirds decloaking and targeting our ship," Bones said, his voice showing just how much he actually wanted to be there. "I don't suppose this is a problem either."

Camille had heard that tone in Bones' voice before. It was immediately after she'd asked him his opinion on something. He had looked her dead in the eye and gestured to the field in front of them – they'd happened to be at Jim's mom's house in Iowa.

"Cam, look at that field. That is where all the damns that I give is grown. Notice that it's barren. That may have something to do with it being winter, and winter being the season from hell, but I doubt it."

Camille now reported what had so jarred her a moment earlier. "They're firing, Captain."

Unperturbed, Jim called back to Uhura, "Alert medical to prepare to receive _all_ crew members from the damaged ship."

Not even attempting to rein in the sass, Uhura replied, "And how do you expect us to rescue them when we're surrounded by Klingons, _Captain_?"

Jim turned to her, obviously taking great delight in her irritation but frustrated by her lack of compliance. A thin-lipped smile crossing his face, he repeated, "Alert medical."

Uhura glared at him, then turned back to her post and jabbed at her screen, obeying.

"Our ship is being hit," Bones informed him. "Shields at 60%." Only the calmness in his voice that would be entirely lacking were this an actual situation caused Camille to remember that it was just a simulation.

"I understand," Jim replied, and it was only then that Camille noticed that the man was holding an apple in his hand. He was seriously _eating_ right now? Oh, the administrators were going to do more than fail him. She pictured the firing squad at dawn the next day and sincerely hoped they didn't draw from a pool of weapons cadets to partake in the execution.

Bones once again, turned in his seat, his face saying he was two thousand percent _DONE_ with Jim Kirk at this point in time. "Well, should we, I don't know, fire back?" he asked, his voice laced with venom, though not quite as much as Uhura's had been a moment ago.

"No," Jim replied, taking a huge bite out of his apple.

"Of course not," Bones muttered, turning back to his post and, for the first time, showing some sign of trepidation at their current predicament.

Camille could hear the crunching from here and felt extremely sorry for the administrators, whose earpieces would magnify every sound Jim made. She wouldn't blame a one of them for barfing at this point in time.

Suddenly the entire room powered down. Camille's screen went blank, and she stared at it for a moment, trying to clear her vision, as though it were the cause of the malfunction. She looked to Bones, who was just as confused as she was. The rest of the cadets involved were frantically glancing about. Though it _was_ just a simulation, it was also the _Kobayashi Maru_ , and this was unprecedented. Simulations didn't simply power down unless something had gone horrendously wrong. Briefly, Camille's mind flashed to the explosives –

And then, just as suddenly, the power came back online. Camille stared at her screen, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Hm," Jim said, once again completely unfazed. "Arm photons, prepare to fire on the Klingon warbirds."

"Yes, sir," Camille replied, now that the immediate danger was out of the way fully prepared to play her part as the professional-looking pilot of the _USS Enterprise_.

"Jim, their shields are still up," Bones growled, not quite ready to believe everything was fine.

Not even glancing his way, Jim asked, "Are they?" and took another bite out of that ridiculous apple.

Bones turned back to his station and frowned, scarcely able to believe what he was seeing. "No… they're not."

"Fire on all enemy ships," Jim ordered breezily. "One photon each should do. Let's not waste ammunition."

He'd done it. He'd actually beaten the test! No one had gotten this far before. Finding herself incapable of suppressing a small grin of pride, Camille said, "Target locked and acquired on all warbirds. Firing."

On the viewing screen, the "crew" watched as the Klingon ships, one by one, exploded in a blaze of glory. Camille shook her head. Jim Kirk had actually managed to beat the unbeatable _Kobayashi Maru_. Everyone else in the room stared in disbelief, and Camille herself would have liked to say she'd never doubted, but she wasn't one for senseless lies.

Checking her console out of obligation and not because she hadn't seen what had just transpired, Camille informed him, "All ships destroyed, sir."

"Begin rescue of the stranded crew. So!" Jim exclaimed, rising from the chair and turning toward the window where the administrators watched, their faces which surely had shown nothing but disgust before now slack in amazement, "We've managed to eliminate all enemy ships, no one on board was injured" – he took a moment to slap Bones on the back, his friend just sitting there in a mix of shock and pride similar to Camille's current thoughts – "and, the successful rescue of the _Kobayashi Maru_ crew is underway."

In that devil-may-care way of his, he took another huge bite out of the apple and sat there munching at it, staring up at the window in defiance. Bones turned to Camille and shrugged, as if to say, "What can you do?"

"Jim," Camille asked, and he brought himself to turn from his defiant stance to look at her.

"First of all, for goodness' sake, can you chew that thing a little louder?" she began, slightly irritated. He merely grinned and began letting his mouth open just slightly as he crunched. "Anyway, how did you do it?"

He half-smirked, saying, "Oh, I have my ways, Camille. I have my ways."

The glint in his eye concerned her. She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. As Jim turned back to the administrators, she looked at Bones, who didn't appear to understand what gave her pause and merely shrugged again. Camille turned back to her console, rested her elbows on the screen and propped her chin on her hands, deep in thought.

Was there any way he could have – No. No, the idea was preposterous. Jim was better than that, wasn't he?

Wasn't he?

What had he said yesterday, that he was going to…study!

 _Oh, Jim, no…_

Camille whirled and stared at her friend, who was now prancing on out of the room, Uhura following after him and demanding to know how he'd done it. Bones came over to her.

"Cam, you okay?" he asked, frowning.

She looked up at him, wondering if she should voice what she'd only recently come to suspect. But no. She didn't want word getting back to Jim that she was casting aspersions on his character, just in case they weren't true.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, shaking her head. "Come on, let's go."

But she knew she couldn't fool Bones, and she'd have to come clean eventually. Jim had been hanging out with one of the science cadets, Gaila, lately. Had he been able to convince her to help him cheat on this test? Camille didn't know Gaila well, but she knew she had access to the test, and knew that she was smart enough to have done it.

Camille followed Bones out of the room, trying to push it to the back of her mind but unable to do so.

* * *

Karina had found it odd that neither Spock nor Uhura was there for the class today, but what was she going to do? It was really none of her business what they did. The instructor and his girlfriend, skipping a session to go on a date was really no concern of hers, was it? No, not while that position on the bridge was hanging in the balance –

Karina frowned at herself. _Pull it together, Bartowski_ , she reminded herself for the third time that day when her thoughts had strayed to Uhura. _This isn't you. And you don't even know if they missed it together. You would have no problem with this if she wasn't your competition for the spot on the bridge. So calm –_

"You should really watch where you're going, you know," came a voice to her left, and she jumped, finding Pavel standing there grinning at her.

She looked at the amount of distance between them, which was rather unrealistic when the pair of them were walking in the same hallway and she wasn't paying attention. She seriously should have smacked into him about two minutes ago.

Gesturing at the space, she asked, "How?"

He shrugged. "I watch where I'm going. And I dodged. And speaking of going places, I have to be at a class in about five minutes. See you later?" he asked, his eyes registering hope for that, even though it wasn't one of their normal lesson days.

Karina smiled. "Definitely."

They went their separate ways, not bothering to specify the where or when they'd be meeting up. If Pavel wanted to find her, he somehow always knew where to look – and in the most random of places, too. He'd caught her on the top of the Academy once. Every so often she just got the desire to look up at the stars, and he for some reason had had an inkling she'd be there.

Suddenly the alarm started blaring. Karina nearly jumped out of her skin before realizing that it was just the bell calling for a meeting. What was that all about? She looked back through the crowd flowing in the other direction, trying to find Pavel among them, but to no avail. Oh, well. She'd end up sitting with Cam, Jim, and Bones like she always did, and she figured if he couldn't find her, there was always Sulu.


	3. A Troubling Matter

**Chapter Three: In which Jim gets caught, Camille and Bones are adorable, and Karina is jealous. Among other things.**

 **Also, I promise, I don't hate Spock! And, believe it or not, neither does Karina. The pair of them just clash a bit.**

 **One more thing before we begin: For those of you waiting on me to update my Companion One Shots, I've decided to wait until I finish writing my other currently running story. (It's called Saving Ensign Chekov, by the way, and it's completely unrelated to this series. If you want to check it out, please do. It'll be fun...and heartbreaking.) That should be sometime within the next month or so, and then I will be dedicated time SPECIFICALLY to the one shots that I have had planned or were requested.**

 **I only own my OCs!**

* * *

Camille sat next to Bones, clenching her fists in and out, over and over. He eyed her. "Okay, I don't believe what you said back there in the simulation for a minute, Cam. What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "This is bad. This is really bad."

"What's really bad, Cam?" came Karina's voice from the other side of her. The kid tossed the bag she carried with her everywhere these days down underneath the seat on Camille's other side and sat down, her eyes wide with concern. "Do you know what this meeting's about?"

Camille was still shaking her head. "I've just got a really bad feeling," she said. "Crap is about to hit the fan in some way or another."

Jim, on Bones' other side, apparently still riding on the high from his success at the _Kobayashi Maru_ , said, "Huh. Can't say I've heard that one before. Still, it depicts a great image, don't you think?"

Karina rolled her eyes and scanned the crowd. Picking Pavel out from among the cadets on the far right of the auditorium, she waved, hoping he saw her. He did and waved back. She looked to see who he was sitting with, but couldn't see Sulu or anyone else she knew. However, on one side, he was sitting next to a rather pretty dark-haired girl. The girl leaned over and asked him something, and he replied, still looking in Karina's direction.

Karina frowned and turned back to the front of the auditorium, not sure why that sat ill with her.

Bones leaned over to Jim. "Do you know what's up with Cam, or what?"

"I can hear you, you know!" Camille snapped. "I may have suffered from breathing troubles in the past, but I'm not deaf!"

Jim looked past Bones and said, "He does have a point, though. Seriously, Cam, what's going on? You've been super cryptic ever since the test, and particularly around me. So seriously, spit it out. Is this about your chocolate stash again?"

Karina facepalmed. "Jim, we've really gotta stop admitting to that."

Camille was too worried to even care. Deciding there was no way around it, she nailed Jim with what he and Karina had come to call her "mom glare."

"How _did_ you beat the _Kobayashi Maru_ test, Jim?" she asked. "Really, because if you lie to me, I will know. And I _will_ kick your ass for it."

The bravado on Jim's face disappeared, and he sat back in his seat, uncomfortable. Camille shook her head, not disgusted, just filled with dread for him. "I knew it," she muttered, looking away and clenching her fists again, in and out, as though the stress was far too much to handle while sitting still.

Karina's eyes widened, and she looked at Jim, unable to believe it. "You cheated?" she asked, her voice small.

"I did nothing wrong," Jim replied, unable to look her in the eye.

Bones was staring at him too. "Jim, please say you didn't."

Jim said nothing but stared straight ahead. The other three sat back, worry lining all three of their faces. Karina, looking for a distraction, scanned the room for Pavel again, only to find him in animated conversation with the mystery girl again, which only added to the uneasy feeling in her stomach, for some reason. Camille thought she'd never seen Bones look more distressed in her life – but if she'd voiced that out loud, Jim might have replied that she hadn't been awake for the other times. If he could have brought himself to say anything to his friends, whom he felt were silently condemning him.

They weren't. It would take a lot more than cheating on the _Kobayashi Maru_ to stop them from forgiving him. He was merely misinterpreting their worried vibes as ones of disgust.

The gong sounded twice, calling the session to order. Karina and Bones nearly leaped out of their skins, and Camille simply shut her eyes as Admiral Barnett began to speak. Jim, meanwhile, continued to stare straight ahead, his face an unreadable stone slab.

"This session has been called to resolve a troubling matter. James T. Kirk, step forward."

Bones slowly turned toward Jim, their worst suspicions confirmed. Karina felt the blood drain from her face, and Camille sat there, knowing she had been right but realizing it was the type of right one did not gloat in.

Jim rose and descended to the podium with as much dignity as he could muster.

Throughout the auditorium, those who knew Jim or knew of him had various different reactions. Karina, already knowing the weight of condemnation that could come down on a cadet who messed with the system, raised a hand to her mouth, trying to fight back the tears that threatened. Camille kept her eyes squeezed shut and shook her head even more vigorously, but slowly found herself prying them open. What Jim had done was not okay, but he was her friend, and so help her, she would watch his downfall and be strong for him.

Bones, meanwhile, stared in horror after his friend, the man who was like a brother to him, though he would never admit it out loud. Secretly he held out hope that this was not about the test, but how could it not be? What else would be troubling them about Jim, unless stealing the one thing that kept female cadets from going insane during their monthly time was a bigger deal to Starfleet command than one would think?

Across the auditorium, Chekov sat up a bit higher in his seat, frowning down at the older cadet. He recognized him as Karina's friend, one of the ones who'd come to their rescue in the tunnels last year. If he wasn't mistaken – and he didn't think he was, since the other man had been knocked out at the time – he was fairly certain that this was the one who'd basically carried him down to med bay. Chekov eyed the entire proceeding with some trepidation, not knowing what James Kirk had done, but knowing it had to have been bad if they'd called a council for it.

Sulu, sitting closer to the front on Chekov's side of the auditorium, turned to Juliet at his side and said, "This can't be good."

And in front of Sulu and Juliet, Gaila the Orion fidgeted in her seat and looked at her hands, an expression of guilt and fear written all over her face, but when Uhura, her roommate who was sitting next to her, questioned it, she merely shook her head and resumed her wringing.

"Cadet Kirk, evidence has been submitted to this council suggesting that you violated the ethical code of conduct pursuant to Regulation 17.3 of the Starfleet code," Barnett informed him, and in so doing, the rest of the cadets.

Jim took his place in front of the podium, and Barnett asked, "Is there anything you'd care to say before we begin, sir?"

Jim considered the question for a moment, then sighed and said, "Yes. I believe I have the right to face my accuser directly."

Barnett looked to the right hand side of the auditorium, where an instructor stood up and straightened his black jacket, separating him from the cadets, who wore red.

Karina tugged on Camille's sleeve and reached across, tapping Bones on the arm. "That's Spock! He's my xenolinguistics instructor! He's a bit of a – " She trailed off. "Well, let's just say I'm not exactly fond of the guy."

Bones eyed the man. "He's a Vulcan? This should be fun."

"Step forward, please," Barnett said, and Spock descended to stand opposite Jim, his back razor straight and every inch of him exuding logic and confidence. Karina, of course, read it as arrogance and gritted her teeth. Camille didn't really get a bad vibe off of guy, and had he not been about to wreck Jim's future, she might have questioned Karina's obvious dislike of him.

"This is Commander Spock. He is one of our most distinguished graduates. He's programmed the _Kobayashi Maru_ exam for the past four years," Barnett told them.

Karina's lip curled upward. "One of our most distinguished graduates indeed," she muttered, then looked over at Cam. This had to be really bad if she was the one making snarky comments, but Cam was stunned into silence.

"Commander?" the admiral said, deferring the floor to Spock.

Spock began without qualm. He stared straight ahead, as though addressing the admirals instead of Jim. "Cadet Kirk, you somehow managed to install a subroutine into the programming code, thereby changing the conditions of the test."

Jim was silent for a moment, then turned away from Spock and addressed the council in a like manner. "Your point being?" he said, and Karina couldn't help feeling just a tad bit of pride.

"In academic vernacular, you cheated," Barnett said, and a murmur ran through the crowd. Bones felt an unexpected pressure on his hand and looked down to see Camille had grabbed it. He tensed uncomfortably for a moment, then relaxed. It wasn't an unpleasant sensation. She looked up at him, worry in her eyes, and he reached over with his other hand and covered both of theirs.

Karina allowed herself to be temporarily distracted by this development, her eyes widening and a small, unexplainable, totally out of place thrill filling her. She was brought crashing back to earth, however, when Jim began to speak again.

"Let me ask you something I think we all know the answer to. The test itself is a cheat, isn't it?"

" _What_?" Karina found herself exclaiming, then, as everyone in the entire auditorium turned to look at her, turned redder than her uniform and sank back in her seat. Camille and Bones were too disturbed to be entertained, but across the auditorium, Sulu, Juliet, and Chekov shook their heads and smiled, and even Jim, who had turned with the rest of the crowd, allowed himself a small smile before he turned back, completely straight faced, and said, "I mean, you programmed it to be unwinnable."

"Your argument precludes the possibility of a no-win scenario," Spock replied.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios," Jim shot back, looking away from Spock but keeping his head held high, ever the defiant one.

"Then not only did you violate the rules, you also failed to understand the principle lesson."

Jim, his limit reached, growled, "Please, enlighten me."

"You of all people should know, Cadet Kirk, a captain cannot cheat death," Spock said, and the tension in the room, if possible, grew even greater.

Karina gasped, "Why that miserable – ", and though she took great pains to be a bit quieter this time, still the entire row in front of her turned and looked, though she really did not care at this point. Camille's grip on Bones grew tighter.

Jim stared at Spock for a moment, and though they couldn't see his face, Bones and the girls knew from the way that he fidgeted and looked down at the podium that the comment had dug deep. "I of all people?" he asked, his voice clearly issuing a challenge.

"Your father, Lieutenant George Kirk, assumed command of his vessel before being killed in action, did he not?"

Karina knew Jim's pain as only someone who has lost a parent can, and the tears that had threatened her earlier returned. How dare Spock remind Jim of that!

"I don't think you like the fact that I beat your test," Jim replied, desperately trying to regain some ground here.

"Furthermore, you have failed to divine the purpose of the test."

"Enlighten me again."

"The purpose is to experience fear. Fear in the face of certain death. To accept that fear, and maintain control of oneself and one's crew," Spock said, and Jim looked down at the podium again, knowing he had been beat but not quite ready to accept defeat. "This is a quality expected in every Starfleet captain."

Jim hated himself for having no reply to that. Bones tilted his head to the side. So _that's_ what the test was about? It made sense. Suddenly, as much as he hated to admit it, the Vulcan had a point.

Little did Bones know he would never admit that again if his life depended on it.

As a murmur made its way through the crowd, a messenger dressed in a brown uniform made his way up to Admiral Barnett. "Excuse me, sir," he said, handing him the message board.

Glad for the temporary distraction from these awful proceedings, Karina, Camille, and Bones fixed their gaze on Barnett, whose eyes widened as he looked at the board. He looked up, his eyes barely noticeably traveling over to Spock, then addressed the cadets.

"We've received a distress call from Vulcan," he began, the emotion he felt out of respect for Spock evident in his voice. If it were possible, Spock seemed to stiffen even more.

"With our primary fleet engaged in the Laurentian system, I hereby order all cadets to report to Hangar One immediately. Dismissed," he concluded, standing, and the cadets all stood as one.

Karina made eye contact with Pavel across the auditorium and gave him a tiny half-smile, indicating the exact words they were both thinking: It's _time_. He nodded, his face betraying his nerves, and turned to exit. Camille turned to Karina, who shook her head. "I'm sorry, Cam, but…I have to go."

Camille nodded. "Don't worry, I won't tease you about the whole 'Yoko in the band' thing this time around. This is what you've been waiting for this entire year, Kar. Be safe."

"You, too," Karina said, giving her friend a hug. She looked up at Bones, and he gave her one of his rare smiles, small but still genuine.

"Good luck, kid," he said, then the pair of them went to go get Jim.

Karina found herself unable to resist. "Oh, and Cam?"

Camille whirled to face her.

"When we're on the ship, you might want to remember that his name's not Yoko," Karina said, smirking.

Camille merely returned the grin, accepting the jest she knew was very well deserved.

When she joined Jim and Bones at the bottom of the auditorium, Jim was asking, "Who was that pointy-eared bastard?"

Bones shrugged. "I don't know…but I like him."

Jim eyed him in shock. Camille grinned.

"Don't worry, I'll give it a bit before I pass judgment here, Jim," she said.

Once again, Bones had no idea that he would never say anything close to that sentence again.


	4. Bedlam in the Hangar

**In which there is bedlam, chaos, and more beautiful things! In the midst of getting to the _Enterprise,_ we have trace amounts of teen angst and one of my favorite Bones moments! (As _you_ were...) Camille flirts, and I reference an awful episode of TOS. Forgive me for that. I really couldn't resist. It just added to the teen angst. Mwahahaha! **

**I own nothing. Well, I own Camille and Karina. But I swear, that's it!**

* * *

Karina was hurrying through the crowd, looking for Pavel, when her communicator beeped. Though she really didn't have the time to answer it, her brain and her reflexes were not anywhere close to in the same place, and she flipped it open.

"Bartowski," came the last voice she ever expected to hear in this instance.

"Captain Pike!" she practically shrieked, almost dropping the communicator. Every one within a fifty yard radius turned to look at her, and once again, her face matched her uniform as she realized they recognized her as the kid who'd cried out during the hearing. Fortunately, it also resulted in her making eye contact with Pavel, who was about twenty feet away, apparently looking for her as desperately as she'd been for him. There was no sign of his pretty friend, and she felt a slight surge of satisfaction, for reasons unknown.

"Calm down, cadet," Pike said from the other end. "I'm assuming you got the word about the Vulcan distress call?"

She nodded vigorously, then, when Pavel gave her a look as he hurried toward her, she realized it was a lost gesture. Karina was vaguely reminded of the phrase, "I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached to my shoulders," and quickly amended it to fit her life: _I'd lose my head if I didn't have a Russian around to remind me of its existence._

"Yes, sir," she said.

"And you believe that you two are ready for this mission?" he asked.

Pavel came up beside her and she looked at him to see if he'd heard. When he nodded, she turned back to the communicator. "Yes, sir, I believe we are."

"Then the pair of you report to Sector E of Hangar One," he said. "You both know what ship you'll be on, but it's just a necessary formality. Good luck. And know that, personally, I'm rooting for the pair of you."

The communicator clicked off, and she looked up at Pavel. His eyes wide, he let out a huge breath, a grin tipping his mouth, and she gave something that was a cross between a hysterical giggle and a sigh of anticipation. Their excitement was palpable, but so was their nervousness.

Karina tried instantly to diffuse that portion. "I think we'll be okay," she said. "Let's do this?"

He nodded. " _Da_ , let's – "

She shook her head. "Uh-uh. English, mister."

Another wave of nervousness seemed to wash over him. "Yeah, let's do zis."

She held a hand out. "Pleasure to be working with you, Ensign Chekov."

He took it and shook, and she was reminded of the first time she'd left for a break and wasn't quite sure where they were in their friendship, if it was acceptable for her to hug him yet, and they'd merely settled on a handshake.

"Likevise, Ensign Bartowski," he replied, grinning.

* * *

The hangar was buzzing with activity as Jim, Bones, and Camille crowded into the group in Sector A. They knew where they were going, of course, but they were still required to report and be assigned.

"I don't see why this is necessary," Jim grumbled, the hearing still weighing on him.

"Oh, stop your grousing," Camille muttered, her nerves setting her on edge and making her far less inclined to dealing with Jim's nonsense. "Just be glad you're still in Starfleet at all with that stunt you pulled back there."

"They're calling it," Bones said, and though they knew they were on the _Enterprise_ , they leaned forward with anticipation, none of them quite daring to believe it until they heard for themselves.

"Fugeman, _Regula One_! Gerace, _USS Farragut_! McCoy, _USS Enterprise_!"

Camille drew in a sharp intake of breath, and felt Jim go tense beside her. They'd skipped over the K's. This would be listed alphabetically, and Jim had been skipped over entirely.

"McGrath, _USS Wolcott_! Osbourne, _USS Enterprise_! Rader, _USS Hood_. Welcome to Starfleet, and Godspeed."

Most of the cadets disassembled in general order, but Camille turned to look at Jim, who had suppressed look of terror on his face. Bones, meanwhile, looked simply resigned, as if he had suspected this would happen but didn't want to say anything. Camille didn't blame him, after the day Jim had been through already.

"They didn't call my name," Jim muttered, as though just now processing it. He strode off after the officer. Bones looked from his retreating back to Camille, then the pair of them took off after him.

"Commander? Sir, you didn't call my name. Kirk, James T.?"

The commander, a short, squat man with a fatherly face was punching some numbers into a computer. "Kirk, you're on academic suspension. That means you're grounded until the Academy Board rules." He turned back to Jim, a tad bit of sympathy in his expression, but only a bit. He looked to Bones and Camille as if to say, "Don't you have somewhere to be?" and then walked off.

Looking over toward Sector E, Camille saw Karina and her Russian friend standing in front of a commander who was shouting out, "All right, listen up! I'm gonna read this list one time, and one time only!" Kari, however, was doing the opposite of listening up. She caught Camille's eye and waved excitedly, blissfully unaware of what was going on over in Sector A.

Bones, trying offer some lame comfort, said, "Jim, the board will rule in your favor." Looking at Camille, he saw the trepidation in her eyes and realized he couldn't flat-out lie to Jim. "Most likely."

Camille said nothing, trying to desperately formulate some plan that might allow Jim to come along with them, something that he'd so avidly worked toward for three years. She couldn't see his face with his back turned to them, and she was sure that was on purpose, from the tenseness of his shoulders.

"It'll all be fine, Jim," she said, going to put a hand on his arm, but he jerked away.

His face grim, Bones said, "Look, Jim, we gotta go."

Finally, composing himself, Jim brought himself to turn. "Yeah," he said, clearly trying to hold it together. "Yeah, you go." He shook Bones' hand. "Be safe."

Camille, not caring that Bones was watching, stood up on tiptoes and kissed Jim on the cheek. He tried to muster a smile for their sakes, but all he managed was some feeble attempt at cheer. Camille struggled within herself, turning around and walking away from him. The man literally looked like a lost puppy who just desperately wanted to be found.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her. She had no power over whether Jim could get on the ship. But Bones, as his acting physician…

She turned to him, a knowing look on her face. Judging by the frown and the set of his jaw, his wheels were turning as well. A note of joy and pride surged through her, but she wasn't quite ready to show those yet.

Her mom voice came out. "You're not actually going to stand for this, are you?"

Bones stopped walking, and Camille paused alongside him. He appeared to wrestle within himself for a moment, looked halfway over his shoulder, looked forward as if to go on, then shook his head and rolled his eyes, mentally cursing his own stupidity. "Dammit."

The pair of them strode back to Jim, whom Bones grabbed under the arm and said, "Come with me."

Camille was practically bubbling over with excitement, and the look of bewilderment on Jim's face was surely worth any trouble they might get into later.

* * *

"Bartowski, _USS Enterprise_! Chekov, _USS Enterprise_!"

The Commander barked out several more names, but Karina barely heard them. She'd had confirmation from Captain Pike that the pair of them would, in fact, be assigned to the _Enterprise,_ but she couldn't quite believe it was happening. She pinched herself, just to be sure. Yep, this was real.

She might have been swept away by the tide of cadets going to their shuttles had Pavel not grabbed her by the arm and hustled her along toward their own. She pulled herself together mentally and turned to him, her teacher mode coming out.

"Converse with me," she demanded.

Pavel stared at her, thrown off by her sudden reversion to teacher phase from the girl who was practically jumping up and down in excitement a second ago. "Vait, vat?"

"You're going to need to speak in English for extended amounts of time for who knows how long at this point," she said. "Why not start now? Let's have a flipping conversation – oh, crap!"

He followed her gaze toward an older female cadet who was striding toward them at breakneck speed. Karina attempted to pull him off to the side, and he resisted.

"But, Karina, ze shuttle is zat vay," he protested.

"Just trust me on this!" Karina said, grabbing him more firmly and really giving him no choice in the matter. She began leading them on a more roundabout way to the shuttle, ignoring his mutterings about who, exactly, was the "nawigator" here. There had been murder in Nyota Uhura's eyes, and all she could think was, _She knows!_

A storm was coming for her as soon as she and Uhura met up next, she just knew it. Working on the same vessel might prevent this goal, but she was determined to stay as far away from her as humanly possible.

They boarded their shuttle, sitting in a window seat – which Pavel had insisted on. "Ve need to see ze ship when ve approach it," he said, and Karina found herself mildly intimidated by the accent. What was Pike going to think of it? She supposed he couldn't help it, that it was a bit early in his life as an English speaker to expect no accenting, and she wondered if it would ever come to that at all.

Personally, she hoped not. It was very "him." But would Pike find him hard to understand?

Trying to take her mind off the concern, she asked, "So…when do you think we get our uniforms?"

He turned and gave her a look. "Are you serious right now?"

* * *

Camille was attempting to keep up with Jim and Bones, but her legs were much shorter than theirs, so she ended up have to grab onto Jim's other arm to even come anywhere close to keeping up with them.

"Bones, where are we going?" Jim demanded.

"You'll see," Bones said.

Camille was suddenly jarred by someone passing to her right, and lost her grip on Jim's arm. She looked back to see who her assaulter was and saw Uhura disappearing into the crowd, her back ramrod straight, looking for all the world like a woman on a mission.

Suddenly remembering Jim and Bones' much longer strides, she nearly panicked for a moment before she heard Bones call, "Cam, come on! We need to hurry if this is going to work!"

She ran to catch up with them and, once again grabbed Jim's arm, flashing Bones a flirtatious smile. "I knew you wouldn't leave me behind, cowboy."

Bones turned slightly red, and Jim rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Which leads me to the question: If _what_ is going to work, Bones?"

"And I repeat, you'll see," Bones growled.

Jim turned to Camille. "Do you know what he has in mind, here?"

She shrugged. "I just try to smile and nod and not call the mental hospitals."

"Heard that."

* * *

The conversation Karina had so lamely tried to start up had fallen to an awkward silence, and Chekov was practically on the edge of his seat. This was actually happening. They were actually about to go on the _Enterprise_ , actually about to be evaluated by Captain Pike to see if he spoke acceptable enough English to serve on the ship. This was exciting. This was great.

And Chekov had never been more terrified in his life.

Finally, though he wasn't exactly one to mind silences, he could stand this one no longer. He turned to Karina and said, "Talk to me."

Her eyes widened. "Didn't we already try that?"

"Yes, I know. I just need something to break ze silence. I'm about to go insane ower here."

Karina eyed him, her face saying she knew him far too well. "Or barf?"

He frowned. "If zat means ze same sing as srowing up…yes."

"Okay…" She frowned, as though trying to come up with something to say. Chekov enjoyed watching her as she struggled with herself inwardly, of course, only when it was something as light-hearted as this. Her eyes widened for a moment, as though a thought occurred to her that she dared not ask, and he wondered briefly what it might be. Then she eased her expression back into neutrality, not aware of the fact that he'd been looking at her.

"So…who was that girl with you at the council session?"

He was a bit taken aback by the question. "Is zat important?"

She shrugged. "It's conversation. I've never met her. I'm curious."

Not quite sure how to respond, and also not sure why he felt a slight amount of guilt, as though he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't, Chekov told her, "Her name is Irina. She's in some of my nawigation classes. She just came to ze Academy zis year. She's from Russia. Vy?"

Karina shrugged again. "Nothing. It's just… you know… she's pretty. Isn't she?"

He frowned. Had he noticed that? Well, of course he had. He was male. And Irina was pretty. _Very_ pretty.

"I guess so," he said, his voice careful. What he couldn't figure out was why the fact that Irina was pretty mattered so much to Karina…

And why it mattered so little to him.

Letting his gaze drift out the window, his jaw dropped. "Holy Leningrad," he muttered. "Karina…Look at zis."

Whatever slump she'd fallen into fell away as soon as she eyed the landing dock. There it was. The _Enterprise_ , in all its glory.

"Whoa," she muttered, her face going slack in awe.

He turned back to her. "Still sure about zis?"

She smiled, her eyes fixed on the ship. "Never doubted."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Jim demanded, as Bones strode into the hangar's medical supply room, Camille jogging along behind them.

"Yes, please enlighten us," she said, out of breath.

"I'm doing you a favor," Bones said, going to a rack filled with vials. "I couldn't just leave you there, looking all pathetic. Take a seat." He grabbed a vial filled with blue liquid.

Jim sat down, and looked at Cam as though searching for validation. "Pathetic?"

She merely nodded, knowing that to say it out loud would only add insult to injury.

"I'm going to give you a vaccine against viral infection from Melvaran mud fleas," Bones went on, seemingly without thinking attaching the vial to the syringe and injecting it into Jim's neck. Camille winced as the needle went in and Jim cried out in shock and pain.

"Ow! What for?" Jim complained, rubbing his neck. Camille merely sat off to the side, suppressing her giggles. Normally she would have no problem wounding Jim's pride a little, but today she thought it needed some boosting, no matter what he'd done to deserve his grounding.

"To give you the symptoms," Bones said, breezily, as though discussing the weather or what he'd had for lunch last Saturday.

"What are you talking about?" Jim whined, looking for all the world like a child being disciplined for an unknown reason. Camille got a glimpse of what his childhood had been like and said a silent thank you that she had not been his mother.

"You're going to start to lose vision in your left eye," Bones continued, putting the syringe away to be cleaned.

Jim looked at Camille, but it became evident that he wasn't actually seeing her. He blinked as though to regain his vision and said, "Yeah, I already have…"

"Oh, and you're gonna get a really bad headache and a flop sweat," Bones said, coming back over to them with a black pouch hanging off his neck like a man purse.

"You call this a favor?" Jim asked as they assisted him off the table, already sounding terrible.

"Yeah, you owe me one," Bones said, escorting them out of the supply room.

Jim looked as though he was about to protest, but a look from Camille silenced him. "Yes, Mom," he muttered under his breath.

Fortunately the shuttle was only a few hundred yards away, but even at that short distance, Jim was getting progressively worse. He started breathing really hard, in fact, Camille could only compare him to a winded horse. He looked, and sounded, ridiculous. Once again, she found herself having to suppress peals of laughter, but if not for her innate trust in Bones' medical ability, she might have found herself just a little bit worried. Jim really did not look good.

The commander stopped them before entering. He was, once again, a short, squat little man, but looked slightly easier to intimidate than the last one had. Camille thought secretly to herself that Jim probably used to take lunch money from guys like this, though he wasn't very well in a position to do any bullying today. That unpleasant job fell to Bones.

"Kirk, James T…" the commander said, looking at his roster. "He is not cleared for duty aboard the _Enterprise_."

Mostly confident…but there was a touch of uncertainty there. Which was all Bones needed to start in.

"Medical states that the treatment and transport of a patient is to be determined at the discretion of his attending physician, which is me," he said. Camille eyed him, impressed. The utter pompousness, the authority in his tone that dared the commander to question… Normally she preferred pacifist Bones, but this… Dang.

"So I'm taking Mr. Kirk aboard," Bones continued, practically steamrolling the now flustered commander. "Or, would you like to explain to Captain Pike why the _Enterprise_ warped into a crisis without one of its senior medical officers?"

The commander, considering this but clearly trying to maintain some authority, merely nodded and said, "As you were."

Jim, in his practically delirious state, attempted to reply, but Camille elbowed him in the ribs, making him shut up.

"As _you_ were," Bones growled. "Come on."

Bones took full charge of Jim, dragging him along. Camille, walking along by his side, turned to him and said, "Huh. You're kind of hot when you're all authoritative, cowboy."

Then she flounced off to find them a seat, leaving Bones standing there for a moment trying register what she'd just said. Wait. Had she just called him –

"You know, about this so-called favor," Jim muttered, bringing him crashing back to reality. "I'm not a fan of it."

"Oh shut up," Bones said, dragging him to the seats Camille had chosen by the window.

Once the shuttle was off the ground, Camille leaned back in her seat, relishing the feel of being in the air, and Bones looked over at her, shaking his head.

"Born to fly, remember?" she asked him jokingly.

He snorted. "More like born to be insane."

They cleared Earth's atmosphere, and suddenly the landing dock came into view. Camille's eyes widened, and she tugged on Bones' sleeve. He followed her gaze, and his expression mirrored her own.

From Bones' other side, she heard Jim say, his agony evident, "I may throw up on you." Oh, joy.

Bones motioned for him to turn toward him. "Jim, you gotta look at this."

Jim continued to hyperventilate, not really caring about what there was to see outside that window, just focusing on maintaining what little dignity this virus was leaving him.

"Jim, look."

"What?"

 _"Look!"_

He finally turned to look and see what was drawing Camille and Bones' attention, and his jaw also dropped. The _USS Enterprise_ was beautiful. It was the newest ship in the fleet, and there it was, looming in front of them. The lady in all her glory.

Jim clearly thought he was in love.

"Whoa," was all he could say as they approached the shuttle dock, his encroaching illness temporarily forgotten in the splendor of the ship suddenly overtaking him.


	5. Anticipation

**Chapter Five: In which it is relatively short and there is a significant lack of Jim, Camille, and Bones. Apologies for that, profuse ones that involve me not quite groveling at your feet, but fairly close. Good news is, however, there are some fairly great things. Like the fact that we address uniform equality (seriously, those dresses are _short,_ man!), and there's more adorableness. Yes, this chapter focuses on Chekov and Karina, but the other three will be back on Friday, and they will be glorious.**

 **I own Camille Osbourne and Karina Bartowski. That is all.**

* * *

"Name, station?" the man issuing uniforms asked them.

Karina and Chekov looked at each other, neither one sure which one should go first. Karina shrugged and took the initiative.

"Karina Bartowski, Communications," she said.

He handed her a red bundle and turned to Chekov, who attempted not to look intimidated. Talking to Karina in English was one thing. Anyone else, however, was an entirely different task. He supposed he'd need to get used to it if he was going to prove to Captain Pike that he could handle this.

"Pavel Chekov, Navigator," he said.

The man raised an eyebrow, appraising him. Chekov was used to that. Karina was, too, but people were less shocked by a kid in Communications than they were by one in Command. And the specific assertion of _Navigator,_ as opposed to _Navigation,_ was indicative of a Command position. Accepting the yellow shirt and black pants, Chekov turned to Karina and motioned with his head for them to head toward the dressing rooms.

Inside her own stall, Karina slipped the dress on and instantly realized something: She really should have shaved her legs that morning. Sure, she normally did with the skirt for the cadet uniform, but she'd forgone it that morning, considering that she'd done it yesterday. This dress was shorter, making it infinitely more noticeable – and the dress itself, infinitely more uncomfortable. And revealing. She pulled it down as far as possible, gritted her teeth, and ventured outside.

Chekov, typical of the male species, had finished about two minutes earlier than she had and waited around. When she exited, he eyed her in a not exactly subtle way, then realized what he was doing and looked away.

She, in turn, eyed him, not even noticing he had done the exact same thing to her. He looked good in yellow. She'd only ever seen him in the red of the cadet uniform, or those ratty things he called pajamas.

"Not bad," she commented, and he whirled around. Wait a minute… Had she just… His heart did a weird little flip that he was unfamiliar with. Gulping, Chekov finally allowed himself to actually appraise her, since she'd clearly just done the same thing to him.

"Not bad yourself," he said, hoping he didn't sound too awkward. She rolled her eyes, dismissing the compliment, as she always did.

"Please," she said. "This dress is _way_ too short and tight to be any type of flattering."

"You know, when someone compliments you, is generally polite to say 'sank you,'" Chekov teased, letting the grin slide into place, though he was secretly glad she didn't read too much into it.

They turned and started walking toward the bridge. Karina didn't think she'd ever been more freaked out in her life, and she looked over at Pavel, who was attempting to keep up a face of stone, but she knew him better, and he'd always been rubbish at concealing his emotions. And sure enough, as her gaze traveled down to his chest, the rapid rise and fall showed that he was barely keeping it contained. For some people, she would have attributed it to the quick pace they were keeping, but he was far too fit for that. One did not become the youngest ever winner of the annual Starfleet marathon without having some physical ability to speak of.

They boarded the lift to the bridge, shockingly in the sea of people around them, the only people on it.

She looked over at him and saw that the apprehension hadn't died down. Karina sighed, figuring she had a good forty-five seconds or so to distill it. She was no good at these things, but she'd try.

"Just relax," she said. "You'll do fine."

He nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okeeey… I am…relaxing."

The rapid breathing had, indeed, stopped, but Karina thought on that statement and amended it as soon as she saw him start to lean up against the lift wall, no longer standing at attention as he had been.

"Well, not too relaxed," she continued. "Try to maintain an air of professionalism. We take this job seriously, but we're confident. Confidence is a thing."

He straightened up, but gave her a raised eyebrow as he did so, his mild irritation not even close to being masked. Oblivious as she often was, though, Karina blathered on, making the situation inherently worse even as she tried to remedy it. Chekov squirmed, wishing for the first time in their friendship that she would just be quiet already.

"Okay, like I said, I think you should be fine. You're where most people are in their fourth year of learning English. As far as I know. I mean, I've never taught anyone English before, so I wouldn't know."

 _That's making me feel so much better. Thanks, Karina._

"And don't worry about the accent. It shouldn't be _too_ big of a problem. You're not that hard to understand. I mean, the whole pronunciation thing might be a bit of a hurdle, but nothing we can't overcome, right?"

 _The accent is a problem? That's new._

"Just keep telling yourself, it's not like our entire careers and future depend on this. It's not like if this fails they'll ship me back to the abbey and you back to Russia and I'll have to become a nun and you'll try to make a go of farming or something but fail and have to take up your dad's business and live like a criminal the rest of your life – "

"Karina, are you sure _I'm_ ze one who needs to relax here?" Chekov asked, finally unable to stand it any longer. And sure enough, as her tirade had gone on, her voice had gotten higher in pitch and slightly more panicked sounding, until it almost appeared as though she were in hysterics. "Because honestly, if you vere trying to calm me down, it vorked. I'm wery distracted by your constant yammering right now!"

Karina nodded, taking a deep breath and seeing his point. Then a grin slowly spread across her face, and she turned to him. He had no idea what the devil she was smiling about, until she said,

"Pavel, do you realize how long you've gone without using a single word in Russian?"

He frowned, then his eyes slowly widened and his face went slack as he realized the truth of that statement. It had been at least two hours. He'd never gone that long of a time without speaking Russian. He'd been in English this entire time, without a single correction on Karina's part.

If he kept that up, they'd be golden.

The lift pulled to a stop, and she moved to stand in front of him before the doors opened, saying, "We've got this. Don't freak out, it's all going to be over in a few hours, right? And hey… nice use of a colloquial phrase. Although I don't really think it was yammering. More like…blathering."

Then she stepped out of the lift in front of him and probably would have flounced to her position on the bridge, if she hadn't remembered her earlier advice to him and maintained a professional air.

He looked after her, a half-grin tipping the corner of his mouth. Her walk practically said she dared anyone to question why a sixteen-year-old girl was on the bridge of the _Enterprise_ , but when she turned toward him again to take her seat and hesitated, he caught a split second of hesitation, and vulnerability. She glanced around the bridge, her eyes wide, and he shook his head, smiling. She was just as intimidated by it all as he was.

He then realized it was time for him to go take his place on the bridge, or else stay on the lift the entire time. His eyes traveled to the navigator's chair, and he felt his heart stop for a couple of seconds. That was such a senior position, such a prominent place on the bridge. What was he doing here? He was seventeen, for goodness' sake!

He caught sight of Sulu at the helm, and the older cadet turned around in his chair and gave him a tiny smile. Taking another deep breath, Chekov steeled his nerves and made his way to his spot at the helm. Looking at the controls, he nodded to himself, not quite as convinced he needed to conceal the nervousness as Karina was.

This was it. He looked back at her, and she gave him the same tiny smile Sulu had. They were ready.


	6. Course Laid In

**In which our stowaway and his accomplices narrowly avoid a rather awkward encounter, the _Enterprise_ narrowly avoids - well, DEATH, if the film tells us anything, and Jim narrowly avoids being strangled by Camille. Turns out passing out can be quite good for your health sometimes. **

**A word of wisdom to you all: When in doubt, remember to disengage the external inertial dampener. I mean, maybe wait a few minutes so you don't send your crew warping to their deaths. Sorry. Sulu appreciation moment for a second. (moment of silence)**

 **I own nothing but for Cam and Kari. Enjoy!**

* * *

Coming into the shuttle dock, finally onboard the ship that would serve as a home-away-from-home for the next few years, should have been nothing short of an out-of-body experience. It should have been glorious. Camille knew she should have been overjoyed at this turning point in her life.

However, the violently ill James Tiberius Kirk on her left, whom she was currently desperately trying to prevent from losing his lunch all over her lap – or Bones' – was rather preventing the mood from becoming all that it should have been.

The shuttle landed, and as soon as it touched down Bones and Camille seized Jim by an arm each and dragged him off into the sea of Starfleet officers milling around. Once again, Camille, taking two steps for each of Jim and Bones', was extremely glad she was holding on to one of Jim's arms with a death grip.

Jim, meanwhile, looked like he was drunk, high, and suffering from intense constipation all at the same time.

"We need to get you changed," Bones said under his breath. Cam briefly wondered where the heck they were going to get a uniform for him, seeing as he wasn't cleared to serve, it probably wouldn't have been provided. That could be a problem, as in the normal cadet's uniform he would stick out like a sore thumb.

"I don't feel right. I feel like I'm leaking!" Jim exclaimed, his eyes squinted and his words slurred. The expression on his face could be comparable to that of one on laughing gas. It had been entertaining at first, but at this point Camille was just wishing they could get to med bay so Jim would be sedated and finally shut up.

Honestly, men were such babies when it came to illness. If they could see what women pushed through while they were –

"Hell, it's that pointy-eared bastard!" Bones exclaimed, and Camille followed his wide eyed gaze to where Spock came striding toward them.

She turned to Bones. "Evasive maneuvers!"

Bones tugged on Jim, and when the nigh-on delirious man resisted, Camille gave him a shove. He went without a fight. Bones gave her an incredulous look, his jaw slack in awe. She shrugged.

"He's more scared of me than he is you," she said. "I've told you. Him, Kari, everyone finds me more intimidating. Even you."

He frowned and looked as if he was going to protest, then shrugged. "Well, you aren't wrong, woman, I'll give you that."

* * *

Karina drew in a sharp intake of breath when the lift doors opened and Spock stepped onto the bridge. He briefly made eye contact with her, gave what seemed to be an almost imperceptible nod, then proceeded to his spot on the bridge. Karina followed him with her gaze, suddenly even more intimidated than she had already been.

She remembered Spock expressing his "concern" as to Pike's challenge to her and Pavel. Spock had clearly opposed it, thinking that they were unable to accomplish such a task as getting a fluent Russian speaker to speak decent enough Standard in a year.

She sincerely hoped they would prove him wrong, but his sudden appearance on the bridge had done nothing to calm her nerves, which were already on edge.

Pike, who had only come onto the bridge a few moments previously and was now standing five feet away from Karina, looked at her, sized her up, and gave her a warning expression. The man knew what she was thinking, knew the past between her and Spock, and was now signaling to her that if she wished to remain in this position, she _would_ lay whatever enmity existed between her and the Commander to rest.

He then turned to greet his first officer. "Mr. Spock."

"Captain," Spock said, taking his seat. "Engineering reports ready to launch."

"Thank you." Pike went to assume his position in the captain's chair. All eyes turned to look at him, and Karina couldn't help but feel that he certainly gave off a commanding air, just as a captain should. She thought of Jim, who she knew desired to be a captain more than anything else, like his father before him. She looked down to the helm, at Pavel and Sulu, who were, like everyone, eyeing Captain Pike with a good deal of respect. She wondered if either of them would make it to the rank of captain, and if they'd give off the same tone of authority Pike did.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the maiden voyage of our newest flagship deserves more pomp and circumstance than we can afford today," Pike announced. "Her christening will just have to be our reward for a safe return." He looked at Sulu, then at Pavel, then raised his head and addressed the entire bridge. "Carry on."

As Pike sat down, Karina felt the excitement start to creep in and found her hands were shaking beyond belief. She forced herself to calm down. They were about to take off! Her first flight on a starship!

Pike pressed the intercom button. "All decks, this is Captain Pike. Prepare for immediate departure. Helm, thrusters."

Without any particular job to do at that point in time, having already prepared her station, Karina watched Sulu and Pavel as they saw to their duties, Pavel laying in the course, Sulu saying, "Moorings retracted, Captain. Dock control reports ready. Thrusters fired. Separating from spacedock."

The _Enterprise_ began to drift, and Karina felt surprisingly weightless, though the artificial gravity was still working just fine.

"The fleet's cleared spacedock, Captain. All ships ready for warp."

"Set a course for Vulcan," Pike said.

Sulu, receiving the signal from Chekov's station, turned to Pike and said, "Aye-aye, Captain. Course laid in."

Karina smirked to herself, feeling an unnecessary twinge of pride.

"Maximum warp," Pike said. "Punch it."

Karina found herself on the edge of her seat, her eyes glued to Sulu as he pushed the gear forward. Through the viewer, she could see all the ships disappearing in warp speed. One, two… One by one, all disappeared… And the _Enterprise_ was left perfectly stationary as before.

There was complete silence on the bridge. Sulu's eyes darted back and forth. Wait. What was happening here? Chekov turned in his seat and gave him a look that clearly said, _What are you doing?_ Sulu tried not to panic. If he wasn't careful, _he'd_ be the one deemed incompetent and kicked off the bridge! All eyes were on him.

Pike, attempting to keep his voice calm, asked, "Lieutenant, where's Helmsman McKenna?"

Still working at his station, Sulu said, almost on autopilot from all the explanations he'd had to give for why, exactly, he was the one in this position. "He has lungworms, sir. He couldn't report to his post." He turned to face Pike, figuring that was the respectful thing to do. "I'm Hikaru Sulu."

From a distance, Karina saw that though the man was trying to give off an air of professionalism, he was shaking in his boots. All one needed to see to confirm that was the rise and fall of his Adam's apple as he tried to calm himself down.

"And you are a pilot, right?" Pike asked, feeling some sympathy for him but still wishing to showcase exactly how serious the situation was.

"Very much so, sir," Sulu said, smiling just slightly and going back to his screens, trying to figure out what exactly, was preventing the damn starship from going to warp. "I'm not…sure what's wrong here."

His voice belying his frustration, Pike asked, "Is the parking brake on?"

Karina snorted, then, at a look from everyone within a five foot radius, covered her mouth and nose quickly, her face turning beet red.

Sulu, to his credit, allowed himself a small laugh. "No. I'll figure it out, I just…"

"Have you disengaged the external inertial dampener?" Spock suddenly piped up, the voice of logic, as always.

Sulu's back straightened, and Karina was willing to bet the look of irritation on the man's face was a sight to behold. With stiff, calculated movements, Sulu pressed the necessary icons on the screen, and the whirring sound that had been missing for the past few moments started up again. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, except for Sulu, who still looked relatively miffed. Karina did not blame him in the least.

"Ready for warp, sir," he said.

Pike sat back in the chair, once again relaxed. "Let's punch it."

For a second time, Sulu pushed the control forward, and the ship felt as though it were being stretched, simultaneously pulling forward and staying stationary. Then, like a rubber band being released, it shot straight into warp, everyone on the bridge jerked forward just slightly as it took off.

Karina looked around, soaking in the feeling of being on a starship for the first time. So far, it was everything she had imagined and more. She glanced over at Pavel, who eyed her, the nerves apparent in his expression. She nodded, trying to make her own less obvious.

 _Just relax_ , she mouthed, gesturing like she was tamping something down.

He appeared to consider that, and she noticed him starting to loosen up in his chair. However, as he started slipping down into it, going into a fully non-alert position, she quickly shook her head, hoping her eyes conveyed the message of _Not like that! Not that relaxed!_

It must have worked, for he instantly snapped back to attention. The pair of them eyed each other, and he gave her a small half-smile. She returned it full force. Pike, who of course, being able to see everything going on in front of him, followed Pavel's gaze back to her, and gave them both the "look".

"Do you two have something you need to be doing?" he asked, and they turned back to their posts, attempting seriousness, but unable to keep the faintest traces of smiles off of their faces.

* * *

Camille had gone to wait in med bay while Bones got Jim changed. The doors slid open and the men strode in, Bones still in his cadet uniform, Jim now in a black sweat suit of sorts.

"Where are we?" Jim asked, just as out of it as before, and Camille rolled her eyes. She'd really been hoping that the slightly hungover factor wouldn't be a thing anymore, or maybe that he'd be unconscious by now. Obviously they'd have no such luck.

"Medical Bay," Bones replied, business as usual.

Camille rose from her seat by the door to follow along behind them as Jim groaned, "This isn't worth it."

"A little suffering is good for the soul," Bones quipped, clearly barely keeping his irritation under check.

A blond nurse Camille had met earlier passed by, and Jim turned, a look on his face that even in his delirious state Camille recognized, and she rolled her eyes.

"Hey. How you doing?" Jim asked, eyeing her up and down as Bones dragged him along.

"Come here," Bones growled, and Camille said, "Good luck with that one, buddy."

She called after the nurse, who'd given Jim a withering gaze as she passed by. "Sorry about that, Christine! He's a bit out of it, in case you couldn't tell. Melvaran mud fleas? Killer, right?"

She then scurried off after the men again. Why did it seem like her life was turning into a chase today?

"My mouth is itchy. Is that normal?"

"Well, those symptoms won't last long," Bones told him.

"Grow up, you big baby," Camille muttered.

"I'm going to give you a mild sedative," Bones went on, once again speaking of Jim's agony as though he were talking about the weather.

"I wish I didn't know you," Jim growled.

"Don't be such an infant," Bones retorted, shooting the sedative into Jim's neck. Once again, Jim cried out in pain, squeezing his eyes shut as shaking his head as though to shake it off.

"How long is it supposed to…" Jim's question was cut off as his eyes rolled back in his head and he crashed back onto the table. Camille gasped and went to check on him, then, discovering that he was completely unharmed, started dying of laughter.

"Unbelievable," Bones said, then started for the door. "Come on, Cam, we'd better go get changed. Shouldn't you be in engineering?"

She shrugged. "Oh, probably. They won't miss me for a few more minutes. I can stick around until he wakes up."


	7. Maximum Warp

**Chapter Seven: In which we record my...third favorite part of the film, Jim experiences some disturbing medical complications, Uhura is baffled, Karina is concerned, and Pike is both of those, to say the least.**

 **Okay... here's where I passive-aggressively hint at things. Or, you know what, I'll just outright ask for them. Guys...are you actually enjoying this? Because I've gotten next to no reviews on the last two chapters. Thank you booksfoodmusic-minion for your lone review! But for the rest of you all...I'd really appreciate if you let me know what you think on this chapter! It's a nice, long one for your benefit. Thanks!**

 **I only own Camille and Karina. Have fun with this one!**

* * *

Sulu turned back to Pike. "Engines at maximum warp, Captain."

"Russian whiz kid, what's your name? Chenko? Cherpov?"

Karina's head snapped up. Okay. This was it.

Swallowing his nervousness, Pavel turned around as well. "Ensign Chekov, Pavel Andreievich, sir."

"Fine, Chekov, Pavel Andreievich. Begin shipwide mission broadcast."

Karina sucked in a deep breath. So that was what Pike was having him do. This was high stakes. That wasn't just Pike, or even just the bridge. This was the entire ship! She forced herself to hide her apprehension. She needed to be strong in this instant, show Pavel her confidence in case he looked up here.

And, sure enough, his eyes flitted briefly her direction before he said, "Yes, sir. Happy to." With more confidence than she'd ever seen coming from him, he turned back to the helm and entered the sequence to bring up the shipwide broadcast.

"Ensign authorization code nine-five-wictor-wictor two."

 _"Authorization not recognized."_

Karina attempted to conceal her panic. Crap, crap, crap! The accent was about to seal their doom. She clapped both hands to her face and pulled them downward, sure that the end was nigh. Why had she ever found that endearing? _Because it's him, Karina! Now get your crap together!_

Pavel's groan of "ayyyyy…" was audible even from this distance. Karina was no longer attempting to conceal anything as she scooted her chair as far to the edge of the platform as it would go, waiting on pins and needles for his next move.

"Ensign authorization code nine-five…victor-victor-two," he tried again, louder and clearer this time, pronouncing the "v's" with great effort.

 _"Access granted."_

"May I hef your attention, please? At 2200 hours, telemetry detected an anomaly in ze neutral zone. What appeared to be a…lightning storm in space. Soon after, Starfleet received a distress signal from ze Wulcan high command, zat zeir planet was experiencing seismic actiwity. Our mission is to assess ze condition of Wulcan and assist in ewacuations if necessary. We should be arriving at Wulcan within sree minutes. Sank you for your time."

Karina edged her chair back toward its original position, realizing that through all of that while she was telling herself _she_ had to be the calm and collected one, she'd been freaking out and Pavel hadn't once buckled under the pressure. And, obviously, from the looks at least five different people were giving her, including Spock, she had made a bit of a dork of herself. One of the women, currently in the senior weapons position, gave her a knowing look, and Karina bit back irritation. Great. More rumors to fight there.

She wanted to let herself be proud. She really did. But she couldn't quite yet. Not until…

Pavel turned to look at Captain Pike, and Pike turned back to her. Looking back and forth between the pair of them, he simply nodded and gave a bit of a half-smile, then turned back to the viewing screen.

A huge grin erupted on Karina's face, and she looked at Pavel, grinning. Every ounce of faux-confidence he'd assumed was now released from his body as he breathed a huge sigh of relief, his ecstasy evident. She flashed him the thumbs-up, a gesture she'd become fond of in recent months. He nodded, and his face suddenly grew serious. He silently mouthed the words, "Thank you," in her direction.

Karina felt a flash of something warm going through her heart. Everything they'd been through up until this point, from the pounding English into his head in a week faster than most people took it in in a month to being kidnapped by a pair of diabolical Russian arms dealers – never mind that one of them had been his father – was totally worth it, if for nothing other than that.

She was proud of herself, of course. But as he turned back to the helm and she turned back to her communications screen, she realized that paled in comparison to just how proud she was of him.

Out of curiosity, she chanced a glance Spock's way. He was unreadable, as always. But she thought she saw just the barest trace of approval in his eyes. And she had to admit, that made it pretty much worth everything, too.

Down at the helm, Chekov glanced over at Sulu, who, out of the corner of his mouth muttered, "Never doubted it for a second."

Chekov, for his part, was thinking of just how completely worth it that grin Karina had given him had made this whole thing. Like she'd recommended, he relaxed slightly in the chair while still maintaining the professional posture.

They were in, permanently.

* * *

Camille, now clad in a red shirt and black pants, had been sitting watching the broadcast, her back to Jim's prostrate form, when suddenly he sat up and exclaimed in a frenzied state, "Lightning storm!"

She shrieked and jumped out of her skin. Rising, she went around to face him. "Geez, Jim, scare the hell out of – " She fell off short, staring down at his hands. "Um, Bones…"

Bones, wearing the assigned blue shirt for medical and science officers, came over, for once seemingly not noticing Camille's freaked out tone. "Jim, you're awake. How do you feel?" Suddenly, his gaze followed Cam's, and his eyes widened in disbelief and horror. "Good Lord, man!"

Jim looked at both of them, both enraptured with his hands. "What?" Suddenly, he saw their object of fascination and let out a girly little noise that was somewhere between a shriek and a squeal and not at all becoming of a man his stature. "What the hell's this?"

"A reaction to the vaccine, dammit!" Bones cried, racing toward the other medical officers, leaving Camille and Jim there staring in macabre enrapturement at Jim's puffy, swollen hands.

"Good Lord, those things have gotta be the size of a dinner plate!" Camille exclaimed.

Bones' voice came from somewhere off to the left. "Nurse Chapel, I need 50 cc's of cortisol!"

"Yes, sir!" Christine, the nurse Camille had met earlier, replied.

Meanwhile, Jim hobbled over to the viewing screen across from his sickbed and pressed the replay button.

"Jim, what are you…?" Camille asked, but he shushed her with a wave of his hand.

As Bones scanned Jim, he replayed the broadcast Chekov had made not forty seconds earlier, rewinding it to the part that had apparently so grabbed his curiosity. Camille hadn't seen him this determined since he'd tried to hook up with one of those Andorian cadets – which she couldn't see the appeal of in the least.

 _"…appeared to be a…lightning storm in space."_

Jim stood bolt upright, nearly knocking Camille, who had been leaning over him to see the screen, off of her feet and interrupting Bones' scan.

"Hey!" Bones growled, but Jim silenced him rather quickly by grabbing his face in between his two large, swollen, meaty hands.

"We gotta stop the ship!"

* * *

Jim rocketed through the corridors, past unsuspecting and the majority of the time completely baffled crew members, with Bones and Camille racing after him. The men, as usual, were both displaying their one-track mind, and Camille, as usual, was trying to decide whose point concerned her more.

"Jim!" Bones called, panic rising in his tone and reminding her that, under the circumstances, his was the more legitimate worry. "I'm not kidding, we need to keep your heart rate down!"

Jim skidded to a stop by a console and tapped in a few commands. "Computer, locate crew member Uhura!"

Bones, in the midst of his panicked rustling about in the med bag, managed to slip a look at Camille, who understood exactly what he was saying and moved to stand on the other side of Jim. Bones went back to his frantic scrabbling. "You know, I haven't seen a reaction this severe since med school!" he said, scanning Jim once more.

"We're flying into a trap!" Jim exclaimed, the frenzied look in his eyes remaining. He darted off, and Camille grabbed for him, but her reflexes weren't fast enough and he slipped out from underneath her fingers – and Bones' anti-reaction serum.

Bones gave her a mild exasperated look before taking off after him. "Dammit, Jim, stand still!"

Jim had finally pulled to a stop, and Camille took the opportunity to seize hold of his arms, pinning him in place while Bones shot the serum into his neck.

"Ah!" Jim cried. "Stop it!"

It was only then that Camille saw where they were. They had stumbled into the Communications sector of the ship. What the heck was Jim looking for Uhura for? She looked at Bones with a raised brow, and Bones merely shrugged before they took off after Jim, who was now cavorting through the ranks, leaping over unsuspecting Communications officers and causing general chaos in his wake. Bones was too intent on the task of making sure Jim didn't fall over dead to pay any attention to those staring at them as they raced past after him, and though Camille didn't really care, she decided one of them had probably better apologize for Jim's madness and muttered "Excuse him, he's delirious" to everyone who would listen.

Bones had to slow down to get something out of his bag, and Camille quickly outpaced him and caught up to Jim, who had finally located Uhura.

His urgency now reaching its peak, Jim skidded to a halt once more behind her chair. "Uhura! Uhura!"

Uhura turned, and Camille automatically got a wave of hostility, though it wasn't necessarily directed at Jim. Whoa. She would have hated to be whoever had caused this woman's bad mood, and she wasn't too eager to be on the side of anyone that fanned the flames.

"Kirk, what are you doing here?" Uhura asked, standing. Suddenly her eyes widened.

"The transmission from the Klingon prison planet. What exactly – "

"Oh my word, what's wrong with your hands?"

"Noticed that, did you?" Camille commented drily to her right. But it wasn't just Jim's hands that were haywire anymore. No, she'd noticed his voice starting to go a little off during that last sentence. Not slurred, exactly, just… not normal. Her concern mounted.

"It's…" Jim stuttered for a few moments. Bones had finally caught up and began scanning Jim again, so unobtrusively that Jim didn't even notice. Camille might have bit back a laugh at what she knew was coming if the matter hadn't been so serious.

Finally, Jim gave up. "Look, who was responsible for the Klingon attack – "

"What?" Uhura asked, clearly two straws away from breaking.

" – and was the ship womlula?"

Aaaand there it went. Camille facepalmed, this close to done with James Tiberius Kirk and all the complications they were going through to get him onto this bloody ship.

"Was the ship what?" Uhura demanded, her face mirroring Camille's current feelings.

"W- wha – " Jim floundered around for a few moments, trying to form the words, then, if possible, growing even more panicked, he turned to Bones. "Wha's 'appenin' 'oo ma mowf?"

"You got numb tongue?" Bones asked grimly.

"Num nung?" Jim cried, clearly as exasperated as the rest of them.

"I can fix that," Bones said, bending down to his medicine bag.

"Was the ship _what_?" Uhura groaned, getting back to the matter at hand.

"Womlua."

" _What_? I…"

" _Romulan_!" he managed.

"Romulan?"

"Yeah."

"Yes."

"Yes?" Jim shouted. "Ye – " But whatever he'd been about to say was cut off with a cry of pain as Bones, once again, shot him up with a dose of anti-reaction. "Ah! Dammit!"

* * *

Karina glanced down at her communications screen. It showed her not only the main communications sector, but also who all had their stations up and on ready. She glanced at Uhura's. Suddenly, its comm blipped off.

Karina frowned for a moment, then felt a thrill of fear go through her. She dismissed it quickly, however. Uhura was a mature woman, an adult, and a member of a peaceful humanitarian armada, for that matter.

She wasn't going to commit a revenge murder just because she hadn't gotten the senior communications position. Right?

* * *

Yep. Camille had been right. Her life today was consisting of nothing but running. Jim, apparently fully recovered from his reaction – regardless of what Bones seemed to think – was now racing at breakneck speed toward the bridge, Bones, Camille, and Uhura close behind him.

"Jim!" Bones called.

"What's going on?" Uhura asked.

"Oh, it's a _long_ story," Camille groaned.

"Jim come back!"

"Kirk!"

The doors to the bridge slid open and Jim bolted through. Camille threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Captain! Captain Pike, sir - "

"Jim, come back here!"

"Dammit, Jim!" Camille shouted, while Uhura behind her continued to demand an explanation.

" – we have to stop the ship."

"Kirk, how the hell did you get on board the _Enterprise_?" Pike demanded, rising from the captain's chair. Camille fought the urge to offer up a salute, a feeling not all could inflict upon her. Pike wasn't the only one who had risen to stare at them. Spock, in the science officer position, was on his feet, too, looking incredibly miffed. Karina was also on her feet, staring down at them, concern written all over her face. Suddenly her eyes widened.

"Jim, what's wrong with your hands?" she shrieked, and Pike turned and gave her a look that wilted her toes. She cleared her throat.

"My apologies, Captain." She then looked at Camille and gave her a look that said, _What is going on – and why are his hands puffy?_

Camille mouthed, "Long story," and secretly thought to herself that they _had_ been a lot worse about two minutes ago. Sulu, too, was staring at her as though asking for an explanation, and she mouthed, " _Really_ long story." Her eyes then landed on Chekov, who was also staring at her expectantly, and she opened her mouth as though to speak, then rolled her eyes and turned back to the conversation going on in front of her. The kid would find out soon enough.

The other three, meanwhile, turned back to Kirk, looking as though they were fairly certain he was going to explode any minute now.

"Captain, this man's under a severe reaction to a vaccine," Bones began explaining.

"Bones, please…" Jim cried, trying to make the man shut up.

"He's completely delusional, and I take full responsibility – "

"Vulcan is not experiencing a natural disaster!" Jim cut over the top of him. "It's being attacked by Romulans."

 _How the heck does he figure_? Camille wondered. However, Karina, who knew Jim's story a bit better, gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth. Chekov had said "lightning storm in space." That was… freakishly similar to the circumstances that befell the _USS Kelvin_ , where Jim's father had met his end. Pike should realize that, too.

However, the captain was registering none of this, his infuriated visage remaining. His voice tight, he said, "Romulans? Cadet Kirk, I think you've had enough attention for one day. McCoy, take him back to medical. And Osbourne, I just received a report you never made it to your post. We'll all have words later."

"Aye, Captain," Bones said, going to haul Jim off the captain's platform, but Jim was not quite done.

"Look, sir, that same anomaly we saw today…" Jim began, stepping up until he was practically in Pike's face.

"Mr. Kirk!" Pike growled, whirling.

"Mr. Kirk is not cleared to be aboard this vessel, Captain," Spock broke in, approaching and standing on Pike's other side, staring Jim down as if hoping to be intimidating – which both Camille and Karina knew he was not accomplishing in the least. And Jim's next words all but confirmed that assumption as he and Spock spoke over each other.

"Look, I get it. You're a great arguer."

"By Regulations…"

"I'd love to do it again."

"…that makes him a stowaway. I can remove the cadet."

"Try it!" Jim finally shouted.

"Kirk…" Pike snapped.

"This cadet is trying to save the bridge."

"By recommending a full-stop midwarp during a rescue mission?" Spock asked, concern for his home planet lacing his tone with arsenic and wrecking the logical façade he put up.

Camille glanced over at Uhura, who seemed the only one beside Jim and Pike on the bridge not either irritated or thoroughly intimidated by Spock. In fact, the woman's face was downright softened from what it had been before. Camille thought of the earlier events of that day, contemplated anyone feeling such a way about Spock, and wanted to vomit.

"It's not a rescue mission. Listen to me, it's an attack," Jim said, once again addressing Pike.

"Based on what facts?" Spock snapped, full-on demolishing any attempt he'd ever made to convince the humans that he had no emotions.

Camille looked at Bones, who appeared just as lost as she was. Karina eyed Uhura, who looked back at her. A brief flicker of recognition passed across her face, but, to her relief, the concept of petty rivalries seemed to transcend this matter, and Uhura's attention went back to the exchange occurring between Jim, Pike, and Spock. Karina did likewise.

Jim glared at Spock, though he was addressing Pike. His thin, clipped voice betrayed his anger at the commander. "That same anomaly, a lightning storm in space that we saw today, also occurred on the day of my birth." Comprehension dawned on not only Bones' face, but also Camille's. Everyone else appeared just as confused as ever until Jim continued, "Before a Romulan ship attacked the _USS Kelvin_." He turned back to Pike. "You know that, sir. I've read your dissertation."

Pike's resolve appeared to slip, and Karina felt a surge of victory for Jim. Pike was very hard to move from a decision once his mind was made up.

Jim's face, which had bordered on respectful while facing Pike, now resumed its fiery glare when he turned back to Spock once more. "That ship, which had formidable and advanced weaponry, was never seen or heard from again."

Spock's angry expression faltered a bit, now replaced with one of foreboding fear. It was Camille's turn to feel victory for Jim. Spock was beginning to see his point.

"The _Kelvin_ attack took place on the edge of Klingon space," Jim continued, "and at 2300 hours last night, there was an attack. Forty-seven Klingon warbirds destroyed by Romulans, sir, and it was reported that the Romulans were in one ship, one massive ship."

Though Pike was obviously being swayed toward Jim's point, he saw one flaw, one loose thread in the tapestry, and he pulled at it. "And you know of this Klingon attack how?"

Jim turned to Uhura. All eyes suddenly on her, she sighed in resignation, now understanding what this matter was about and realizing that Kirk's madness was justified. "Sir, I intercepted and translated the report myself. Kirk's report is accurate."

Pike remained stock still, attempting to process what he'd just heard. Jim turned back to him.

"We're warping into a trap, sir. The Romulans are waiting for us, I promise you that."

Karina frowned. There was still a potential… How could Jim _know_ for sure? But granted, lightning storms didn't just happen out here in space. And she realized something – Jim Kirk may not have looked all that bright, or acted so on a regular basis. But he had an intuition. And he never got as worked up as he had just there without good reason. The Romulans were waiting to ambush them as soon as they finished warp.

Remembering her first year at the Academy, remembering Agustin, her hatred of Romulans – and Spanish men – resurfaced and she shuddered.

"The cadet's logic is sound," Spock said, jarring her from her reflections. "And Lieutenant Uhura is unmatched in xenolinguistics. We would be wise to accept her conclusion."

Karina's jaw tightened just slightly, but she held the pettiness in check. Considering that they were probably warping to their death.

Pike contemplated the matter. "Scan Vulcan space. Check for any transmissions in Romulan."

Karina moved immediately to her scanner, feeling Uhura's eyes on her, when a voice spoke up to her right. Her fellow Communications officer, a lieutenant who'd likely scored the position over Uhura based on seniority only, said, "Sir, I'm not sure I can distinguish the Romulan language from Vulcan."

 _We're doomed,_ thought Karina. Meanwhile, Camille was giving the man an incredulous look that clearly said, _How did you get to be a Communications officer if you can't even speak Romulan?_

Camille, obviously, was not a big fan of inefficiency. Fortunately, neither was Pike. He approached Uhura. "What about you? Do you speak Romulan, Cadet…?"

Her face appeared to fall, and Camille realized: _He doesn't know who she is on sight. She was the top of her class. He should recognize her. But he doesn't._ That had to sting.

"Uhura," she said, with the proper Swahili accent, of course. "All three dialects, sir."

"Uhura," Pike said, his eyes registering recognition at the name, at least. "Relieve the lieutenant."

Uhura took a deep breath. This was what she'd been waiting for, what everyone knew she rightfully deserved as top xenolinguistics cadet. "Yes, sir."

"Bartowski, hail the _USS Truman_ ," Pike commanded Karina in the meanwhile.

"All other ships are out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan," Karina said, attempting not to grit her teeth, "but we – we seem to have lost all contact…" Her voice trailed off as she realized what that likely meant. She made eye contact with Jim, then with Bones and Camille, and their grim faces confirmed that they knew the same thing she did: Every other ship sent to assist Vulcan in evacuation had been demolished. A good portion of their fellow cadets were dead.

"Sir," Uhura said, "I pick up no Romulan transmission, or transmission of any kind in the area."

"It's because they're being attacked," Jim repeated, his voice clearly belying his frustration that no one was listening to him.

Pike stood in silence for a few moments, then appeared to come to a decision and grimly resumed his seat in the captain's chair. "Shields up. Red alert."

Everyone returned to their seats. Camille looked around for any place to sit, any firm, solid foundation. For lack of a better option, she grabbed onto Bones and Jim for security. Bones looked down at her hand on his arm, looking slightly daunted by her confidence in his stability. Jim, however, was too focused on the viewer screen as the alarm blared throughout the bridge, and the entire crew braced themselves.

"Arrival at Vulcan in five seconds," Sulu announced, as the countdown blip began. The crew collectively tensed.

"Four, three, two…"

Camille eyed Spock, whose once-again emotionless face seemed to scream an unspoken arrogance as he, in turn, eyed Jim. Jim stared back, uncompromising.

Suddenly, the ship came to a halt – or at least what seemed to be a halt after the speed they'd been traveling – and a nightmare filled the viewing screen.


	8. Debris

**Chapter Eight: In which all is chaos on the bridge, all is chaos in Engineering, and...yeah, pretty much there's just chaos.**

 **Thanks to those of you who reviewed! Please continue to do so! They really do motivate me quite a bit. :) Just thought I would throw it out there to those of you who read but don't review: You are IMMENSELY appreciated, too. I'm just glad you all like this story enough to read it. Forgive me if I seem ungrateful for that.**

 **I own my OCs and anything they may add to the plot. That is all.**

* * *

There was so much debris. In front of them, around them, nothing but debris. Seven ruined starships, completely destroyed, hundreds of lives brought to a sudden end. Everyone collectively jumped as though knocked off balance. Jim jerked his arm out of Camille's grip, but even if he hadn't, she switched to holding on to Bones with both hands, subconsciously feeling that if she were attached to two points she'd be torn in two.

"Emergency evasive!" Pike shouted as a piece of debris came floating toward them.

"Yes, sir!" Sulu replied, already on it.

Shouts came from all various different sides of the bridge. Something rocked the ship, knocking everyone off balance. Pike was in the best position for this sort of attack, as his chair provided the perfect braces in its arm rests, and he remained relatively unfazed. Chekov and Sulu both braced themselves on the helm, still thrown sideways but not coming out of their seats. Karina, meanwhile, whose reflexes had taken a temporary break, nearly came out of her chair, only grabbing onto the arm rests at the last minute before she landed in Spock's lap. That did _not_ need to be added to their list of awkward encounters. Pavel, she could run into, possibly be thrown into the lap of during an attack on the ship. Not Spock. And the fact that she cared about that in this particular instant made her almost laugh.

Only Bones and Jim remained perfectly upright somehow. Camille was thrown back away from Bones, who grabbed her and pulled her back toward him, his arm coming around her in a protective gesture.

Her hands plastered on his chest, she looked up at him, slightly shocked. Bones, seeming to realize what he'd done on instinct, also looked down at her, a look of terror on his face, but seeing that she clearly didn't care, and realizing that everyone else was too focused on their imminent doom to pay attention, he decided removing himself from her didn't have to be an option.

The ship shook as small portions of debris hit it on all sides. None of them were as big as that first one, but everyone still struggled to stay upright. Jim had braced himself on an empty console in front of him, and Bones, still holding Camille, grabbed onto another for support.

"Damage report!" Pike demanded.

"Deflector shields are holding."

"All stations. Engineer Olson, report!" Pike barked into the conn, but there was silence from the other end.

Sulu turned the ship upside down, on its side, anything to avoid being permanently damaged. Camille, meanwhile, was scanning the horizon, only able to think of one thing, just one problem, that no one else seemed to be focused on, _Where the hell are the Romulans?_

Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sight of a huge piece of ship, the _USS Truman_ , looming in front of them, about to spell out their death by collision.

"Full reverse! Come about starboard 90 degrees. Drop us down underneath them, Sulu," Pike commanded.

Chekov laid that in while Sulu pressed the throttle forward, performing his job with the most precision possible under the dire circumstances. A bit of the _Truman_ still hit along the nacelles, likely scraping off some of that brand, spanking new paneling Juliet had fangirled to Camille about not two days ago. She wasn't going to be too happy about that – if she lived to even consider being upset.

Camille's eyes traveled to Spock, who had whirled in his seat, only his human eyes revealing his terror. She hadn't even noticed him retake his post, but she knew that he was realizing his worst fears were confirmed: James Kirk was right. Vulcan, his home planet, his parents' current place of residence, was under attack.

Jim, meanwhile, scanned the viewer for his worst enemies, for once in his life wishing he hadn't been right. Pike stared in horror at the carnage before him, taking it in for the first time and completely forgetting about trying to evade it.

Suddenly Spock delivered the words all of them were dreading, "Captain, they're locking torpedoes."

* * *

Engineering was a blur of red-shirted officers running back and forth, trying to maintain some relative order in a situation that clearly dictated anything but. Juliet looked up from the fixture that she'd grabbed onto to stay on her feet during that last jolt to where Olson, chief engineer, was looking about, as though he were unsure what to do with this situation.

Juliet frowned. From the instant she'd parted ways with Sulu earlier and made her way to engineering to be greeted by her supervisor, she'd had an innate dislike of the man. He seemed too arrogant, too reckless, and Juliet wasn't a big fan of recklessness. The idea of serving under a man like Olson for the remainder of her time in Starfleet sat ill with her. She feared for whichever starship Kirk would end up commanding – provided the board didn't rule to kick him out of Starfleet. Provided they all survived this.

Forcing herself to remain steady on her feet, she ran over to Olson, hoping the man would at least have a job for her so she wouldn't feel completely useless.

Olson was currently toying with the monitor, checking all different sections of engineering. A demand popped up from Captain Pike demanding a report, but it was going largely unacknowledged.

"What can I do, Commander?" she asked, jarring him out of his panic.

He glanced about them frantically. "You can…report to the bridge!" he said, as though scrabbling for a task for her and finally settling on one as he finally went to reply to Pike and found his communications less than functional.

Juliet inwardly groaned. She was an engineer, not a Communications officer, but at least it was something to do other than waiting out the storm – to whatever end would be.

Olson groaned, going back to the console. "I wish I could get my hands on the bastards responsible for this," he muttered. "I'd grind them into the dust!"

Thinking it was a bit extreme, but still curious, Juliet asked, "Do you fight, sir?"

"Five years of boxing under my belt, and, talking of belts, I'm a black," he said. "Now, don't just stand there! Get to the bridge and let them know what's going on down here!"

He clearly wasn't about to tell her what that was, exactly, but Juliet felt she could sum it up fairly well in one word: Chaos. Absolute, total, utter and complete chaos. Would Pike take that as a report? Probably not, but it might just get Olson fired. And one thing was certain: Even if they survived, Juliet had absolutely no desire to serve under Olson for the remainder of her time on this ship.

* * *

"Divert auxiliary power from port nacelles to forward shields!" Pike ordered as Camille whirled to find Juliet entering the bridge, looking frazzled. Still, Camille thought frazzled was better than how most people were looking at this point in time.

"Jules!" she called, reaching out a hand to steady her friend.

Juliet thanked her, then stumbled up to Captain Pike. "I've brought Engineer Olson's report, sir," she told him.

"And that is?"

"Well, he didn't tell me, exactly, but I can tell you myself: It's chaos. Sheer chaos. Everyone's panicking. Olson is at a loss. We're in serious trouble down there, sir."

Pike's grimly set face turned back to the viewing screen, fully acknowledging that there was nothing he could do about Engineering right now.

The entire bridge was suddenly rocked again by an explosion somewhere within the ship. The Romulans' torpedoes had hit, where, they did not know. Everyone standing was knocked off their feet. Juliet threw herself backward to avoid being tossed into Pike's lap. Jim maintained a white-knuckled grip on his foundation. Bones, however, was knocked onto his knees, taking Camille down with him. They both rose and dusted themselves off after that one.

"Sulu, status report."

"Shields at 32%. Their weapons are powerful, sir," Sulu said, his tone urgent. "We can't take another hit like that!"

"Get me Starfleet Command," Pike demanded, and Karina struggled to bring them up, but something wasn't right. Her scanners were jammed. Panic began to rise in her throat. She didn't know what was going on, how to fix this. She –

"Captain," Spock's voice came, jerking her out of her stupor, "the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high-energy pulse devise into the Vulcan atmosphere. Its signal appears to be blocking all our transmissions and communication abilities."

Karina looked to Jim, who nodded. This was their MO. She glared at her screen, wanting to try everything she could to get it back up but knowing it was useless. Her hatred for Romulans only expanded. No one messed with her ability to do her job. _Nobody._

"All power to forward shields. Prepare to fire all weapons."

Both Camille and Juliet secretly wished to be in Engineering at that point. At least they might have been able to assist with the weapons and _do something._

A few more moments of blind panic passed. Suddenly Uhura called out, "Captain, we're being hailed!"

Karina briefly wondered why it had appeared on Uhura's screen and not hers, then remembered: Uhura had taken over the post that received transmissions, Karina had the post that sent them. It was technically a job that one person could do, but maximum efficiency called for two. And Pike was all about maximum efficiency, or so she had learned.

A blip came across their screen, and suddenly a face came into view. Angular markings that soon proved to be tattoo marked his bald head and forehead. His nose was angular, as was the rest of his face, and his overall appearance rather reminding Camille of a hawk.

"Hello," he said, as though he were about to begin a friendly conversation.

"I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?" Pike growled, the authority in his voice evident. He was not about to play the friendly game with this man.

"Hi, Christopher. I'm Nero."

His tone remained casually confident, and the crew of the _Enterprise_ was anything but. Jim's face was hard. Juliet, who'd been looking at him and noticed the change, turned to Camille, whose eyes were wide. "Is that?" she whispered.

Camille nodded wordlessly. Jim was currently facing his father's killer, and was powerless to do anything about it.

Karina felt his pain. It hadn't been too long ago that she'd faced down her parents' killer too. Understanding what her friend was going through only made her distaste of Nero and all Romulans grow. Suddenly something occurred to her. Were these the same Romulans as had nearly killed them all that first year at the Academy? It would make sense that they'd want knowledge of Starfleet's weapons systems. Or perhaps the systems themselves.

Clearly, though their original plan had failed, they'd still managed to take out a good portion of the fleet.

"You've declared war against the Federation," Pike continued. "Withdraw, I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location."

"I do not speak for the Empire," Nero retorted, any casualness gone as the negotiations began. "We stand apart. As does your Vulcan crew member. Isn't that right, Spock?"

Everyone slowly turned in their seats to look at Spock. Karina and Chekov made eye contact, and both of them were thinking the exact same thing: The distaste with which Nero had said the commander's name clearly indicated some sort of past, though neither of them could think what.

Spock rose, comporting himself with what could be called grace were he human, though the fact that he was Vulcan made it nothing short of normalcy. However, when he spoke, his voice made it clear the confusion and suspicion that he felt. It was almost accusatory.

"Pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted," he said.

Jim eyed Spock suspiciously, and Camille rolled her eyes. _Good Lord, man. The likelihood that Spock is actually involved with these guys in some way is…nonexistent._

"Spock, there's something I'd like you to see," Nero said cryptically. "Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the _Narada_ for negotiations. That is all."


	9. Another Strategy

**Chapter Nine: In which Camille and Jim serve to give Bones more premature gray hairs, Jim is unexpected promoted - but I suppose you all _were_ expecting that, and Juliet is the epic woman we all knew she was while Engineering continues to go to crap. **

**So, I know we're not even halfway through Down to the Wire, but I figure I need to give you all fair warning: I've been able to update fairly quickly after finishing one installment to the next one, but since finishing this one and beginning the following, I've found myself excessively pressed for time to write. College does that, funnily enough. I may be jumping the gun a little bit, but it looks like at this point it'll probably be about a month in between finishing updating this one and posting Installment #4 - the name of which I shall not yet release! I just wanted to warn you guys and apologize for the inconsistencies.**

 **But, in the meanwhile, updates of this one shall still be regular! Hope you enjoy this chapter. There will be a lot of Camille for the next few chapters to make up for the major focus on Karina up till now, and then it'll even out into a nice mix that I'm going to try to maintain for the rest of the series.**

 **Speaking of those lovely women, they and their contributions to the plot are the only things I own. Have at it.**

* * *

The screen blipped off, leaving them staring at the carnage that was the Vulcan atmosphere once again. All eyes were on Captain Pike. Once again, in that calculated manner of his, he remained still for a few moments as the entire crew waited with bated breath.

Finally, he rose, and there was a collective mix of relief that a decision had been made and apprehension as to what it might mean.

"He'll kill you. You know that," Jim said, recalling what had happened to Captain Robau of the _Kelvin._

"Your survival is unlikely," Spock conceded.

"Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that ship is a mistake," Jim insisted.

"He's right, Captain," Camille put in, though she knew her opinion may not be the most valued in this situation.

"I, too, agree," Spock said, much to everyone's surprise. Camille shot Karina a look, and the younger girl closed her jaw, realizing that she probably looked like a landed fish.

"I understand that," Pike said, and Karina shot Camille a grin in return. The man had another strategy up his sleeve. Both girls realized they should have had more faith in the captain.

Pike scanned the bridge. "I need officers who've been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat. Osbourne, that's you, isn't it?"

Camille nodded, filled with excitement at the prospect of taking part in a landing party on her first mission off of earth. "Yes, sir. I'm a black belt."

Bones frowned. "Wait, what?"

Camille shot him a look. Really, did the man have to spoil her fun this time around?

Sulu, as well, raised his hand. "I have training, sir."

Camille raised a brow. She was unaware of this development, but once again, she realized she was better friends with Juliet than Sulu, and really the only time she'd spent with him had been when they were both with Jules. And he _had_ done pretty well back with the Romulans before. Maybe it wasn't that far-fetched of a thought. She turned to Juliet, who mouthed, _He fences._

Camille gulped. _I hope they have swords,_ she thought.

"Come with me," Pike said to them both. "Kirk, you too. You're not supposed be here anyway."

As they headed off the bridge, Camille shot a look back at Karina. _Be careful_ , Karina mouthed at her. _I will_ , Camille returned. Silent communication was sort of becoming their thing. Bones, meanwhile, caught her arm just before she left.

"Dammit, woman, you're going to get yourself killed!" he whispered, his tone no less irritated for its lack of volume.

She glared at him. "Bones. When have I gotten myself killed yet whenever you tell me that?"

"But Cam – "

Yanking her arm free, she headed off after Jim, Spock, Sulu, and Pike, who was calling back, "Chekov, you have the conn."

"Aye-aye, Keptin."

Left back on the bridge, Chekov turned in his seat to look at Karina, who grinned at him. He must have really impressed Pike earlier, to be given the conn. In spite of her complete confidence in him, he couldn't help feeling just a tiny bit intimidated by this new development.

Bones went up to stand in between Karina and Uhura. "Well, this is just great," he muttered. "Does she ever listen to me? No. No, she doesn't."

Uhura looked up at him. "McCoy," she said, her tone completely even. "I think we have more important things on our plate than your girlfriend putting herself in harm's way. Besides, what was she supposed to do? Just refuse the captain's order?"

Surprised to hear herself saying the words, Karina said, "She's right, Bones. Go to Deck Six. The scanners" – she'd taken a peek at Spock's console – "say that's where the torpedoes hit. This is why you're in Starfleet. Maybe that'll take your mind off of Cam."

Bones walked away, muttering something under his breath.

"What did he say?" Uhura asked.

Karina shrugged. "Probably something along the lines of 'she's not my girlfriend.'"

Uhura's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? I just assumed they were – "

"Yep. They should be." The two of them sort of stared at each other, then remembered they were supposed to dislike each other.

"More important things," Uhura said shortly, turning back to her console.

Karina nodded. "Right," she said, suddenly feeling like she was missing something with this stupid rivalry. Could they, under different circumstances, have been friends? She guessed if she could be friends with the son of her parent's murderer, she could be friends with Nyota Uhura.

Important matters. Like the fact that if this didn't work out, their death was imminent. Karina turned back to her screen as well, still attempting to hail Starfleet Command with no success.

Meanwhile, Juliet turned to head back to Engineering, but first looked out at the _Narada_ looming on the horizon in front of them. Her eyes widened. That ship was the biggest thing she'd ever seen. She might have liked to get her hands on its inner workings, but for one factor: There was no finesse to its design. It was purely evil looking. She would never have wanted to be part of such a vessel.

Shuddering at the sight of it, she turned back to the lift, allowing herself to worry about her friends and what task Pike might have in mind for them – and himself. If it got them out of here, she was up for it, but at what cost?

* * *

Pike, Spock, Jim, Sulu, and Camille strode through the corridors. They'd been off the bridge for a good two minutes and Pike still hadn't told them what they were about to do. Camille was on pins and needles at the prospect of a good adventure. Had she expected her first mission with Starfleet to be so…life-threatening? Of course not. But hey, here it was, and she'd take it.

"Without transportation, we can't beam off the ship," Pike began briefing them. "We can't assist Vulcan, we can't do our job. Mr. Kirk, Mr. Sulu, Ms. Osbourne, and Engineer Olson will space-jump from the shuttle. You will land on that machine they've lowered into the atmosphere that's scrambling our gear. You'll get inside, you'll disable it, then you'll beam back to the ship."

Camille nodded along with his instructions. Sounded simple enough. But how to disable it? It had to be a weapon of some kind, and she was the weapons specialist here, but she'd never seen its like. Jim had some knowledge of weapons, as well, so she was glad he was along, and Olson was an engineer. That had to bode well, right? He'd know the inner workings of things.

"Mr. Spock, I'm leaving you in command of the _Enterprise_ ," Pike went on. "Once we have transport ability and communications back up, you'll contact Starfleet and let them know what the hell's going on here. And if all else fails, fall back and rendezvous with the fleet in the Laurentian system."

They stopped in front of shuttle bay, and Camille could tell from Pike's face he was about to say something at least one of them was not going to like.

"Kirk, I'm promoting you to first officer."

In spite of herself, Camille's jaw dropped, and Jim asked, "What?"

"Captain?" Spock demanded, incredulous.

Pike gave him a look that dared him to question.

"Pardon me, the complexities of human pranks escape me," Spock said, wondering if that was perhaps more acceptable to the humans' view of respect.

Camille looked at Sulu and rolled her eyes, and he gave a short, silent laugh.

"It's not a prank, Spock," Pike told him. "And I'm not the captain, you are."

Camille now turned to Jim. _Spock's captain and Jim is first officer_? she thought, picturing the pair of them working together and wanting to be ill. We're so doomed. _If we survive in the first place._

There was no sound but the whirring of the ship's insides all around them. Pike turned to the three space-jumpers. "Let's go," he said, and wordlessly Camille and Sulu followed him into the lift that would take them to their shuttle.

Camille looked behind her and saw Spock's face, still rather panicked looking. He looked at Jim, who looked nothing short of cocky, and Camille felt a deep sense of foreboding.

One or the other of them was definitely going to kill each other before this thing was over, and she was willing to bet Jim was the one who would end up dead here.

Jim joined them on the lift. "Sir, after we knock out that drill, what happens to you?

"Well, I guess you'll have to come and get me," Pike said, and Camille felt another surge of excitement. Getting to kick more Romulan butt? Yes, please. She imagined Jim would get a lot of satisfaction out of that, as well.

"Like old times, right guys?" she muttered under her breath. Once again, she got a small laugh out of Sulu, a look from Jim that quite clearly said, "Really?" and a look from Pike that suggested she take the situation a bit more seriously.

The captain – well, she didn't really know what to call him now that Spock was apparently captain – faced Spock. "Careful with the ship, Spock. She's brand new."

The lift door closed on Spock's raised eyebrow, and the last thing Camille saw of the commander – captain – whatever the heck he was now – was his ramrod-straight back walking back toward the bridge.

* * *

Juliet had parted ways with the rest of them a moment before. Engineering was, once more, in chaos.

Stopping a cadet who was a couple years younger than her – Jenkins, she thought his name was – she asked, "Hey, where's Olson?"

Jenkins shrugged. "I think the Captain called him to do something or other. He said something about kicking Romulan ass last I saw him."

Juliet considered that. Well, the man did have training in hand-to-hand combat, as Pike had required. Perhaps he'd do more good with whatever the Captain had in mind than he'd been doing here in Engineering – and it wouldn't be hard, she knew that.

"So who's in charge?" she called after Jenkins' retreating back.

"Who knows?" he asked. "Olson didn't appoint anyone, and no one knows who's next on the chain of command down here."

As Jenkins disappeared into the crowd, Juliet paused to consider that. Well, now there was no flipping chief engineer, and no one was there to replace him. Unless –

No, no way. She was a cadet. No way would anyone listen to her. But it didn't really matter that much if they all died, did it?

She resumed Olson's place at the console he'd been fiddling around with earlier, and suddenly understood what he was so panicked about. It wasn't responding. This was the transporter control, the one that gave power to the manual control in the actual transporter room.

Nothing she could do until it got back online.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, turning her around. Jenkins stood there, staring at her like she'd gone mad. "Lieutenant Harper, what are you doing?" he asked, frowning.

Juliet considered how to respond to that, then shrugged. There was nothing else for it.

"I'm taking over Engineering, Jenkins," she said. "Someone's got to."


	10. Space Jump

**Chapter Ten: In which Bones is promoted and we attempt to space jump. As you know, it may or may not end well. Well, Bones being promoted ends well. The space-jumping...eh.**

 **I'm aware POV has always been a little sketchy in my writing - a fact I am TRULY working on, I promise you - but warning: it gets REALLY wonky at the end of this chapter, mostly because I wanted to capture what goes on on the bridge during the space jump and also what happens while they're jumping. Apologies for any confusion.**

 **Hope you enjoy! I know while there's been a bit more Camille in this one, there hasn't been a lot of her and Bones. Trust me, that will be changing. Soon. Patience, my beloved readers!**

 **I only own Camille and Karina.**

* * *

"There's no breakthrough on the Communications abilities yet, sir," Karina said, turning toward Pavel. He rolled his eyes at her, but what was she supposed to call him? He had the conn, basically making him captain in Pike's place. It did seem rather incongruous, him being the second youngest person here besides her. Karina was okay with it, but she imagined some of the people on the bridge wouldn't be.

"Nor will there be," Uhura said from next to her, the irritation in her voice suggesting that she might be one of them, but Karina soon realized all that irritation was directed at her, not Pavel.

He nodded. "She's probably right, Karina. You'll know ven it's reestablished. It vill show up on your screen ewentually."

The lift door opened, and Karina watched Spock come back on the bridge and take his seat in Pike's chair. She sighed. It was probably to be expected that the first officer would take over the captain's position while the captain was indisposed or occupied, but she really did like it when Pavel had the conn better.

Then again, she realized he hadn't really done much commanding. Maybe she just didn't like being told what to do, which was something she wouldn't get away with under Spock's command.

Spock pressed the comm. "Dr. Puri, report."

"It's McCoy," came Bones' voice, and Karina whirled in her seat. "Dr. Puri was on Deck Six. He's dead."

Spock appeared to consider the matter for a moment, then took the only reasonable course of action available to him. "Then you have just inherited his responsibility as chief medical officer."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know!" Bones growled, the stress in his voice evident, and in the midst of chaos, Karina couldn't help but grin, imagine him running back and forth frantically, trying to keep relative order among the injured on Deck Six. Bones was always meant to be in charge. Karina liked the idea of him as CMO…but poor Dr. Puri.

"People getting promoted right and left," she muttered under her breath.

"Tell me about it," Uhura retorted next to her.

Karina glanced over at her. Her face was set, she was glaring. _Oh, my word,_ Karina thought. _She really hasn't put the whole rivalry thing away, in spite of the fact that we're facing certain death. Joy._

Well, filing a complaint to the captain certainly wasn't going to get her anywhere in this situation, and as Uhura had pointed out earlier, there were more important matters at hand then complaining about petty rivalries. Karina rolled her eyes and turned back to her screen, nothing to do but wait.

Unfortunately, she really hated waiting. And she was worried about Jim and Camille. She hoped Communications were reestablished soon. If she could at least talk to them, she'd be less inclined to worry. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. Jim and Cam were adults. They could take care of themselves and likely end up perfectly fine.

Couldn't they?

* * *

Joined by Olson and outfitted in their space-jumping gear, Jim, Camille, and Sulu followed Pike onto Shuttle 89 as the person running the landing dock called out their clearance.

"Shuttle 89, _USS Enterprise_ , you are clear forward," came the automated voice, reminding them of what they'd already established. "Interval check shows positive and steady."

Taking a seat on the far left, next to Sulu, Camille eyed the three men. She and Olson, being the Operations officers in the group, were in red, Jim in blue, and Sulu in yellow. Though she wasn't sure why Jim was in blue, as he would be a Command officer were he actually supposed to be here, she assumed whoever issued these things had a sense of symmetry and had figured Sciences was the only department not represented.

It slightly concerned her that in light of what they were about to do, she got a tiny amount of joy at how all three colors were present. Probably her OCD kicking in, as Mom would say.

Jim turned to Olson. "You brought the charges, right?"

"Oh, yeah," he replied. "I can't wait to kick some Romulan ass. Right?"

Camille glared. Sulu looked from her to Olson and back as if to say, "Is this guy serious?" and even Jim appeared to be uncomfortable with how very seriously the man was not taking this.

However, Jim was also the only one gracious enough to respond. "Yeah," he said, for lack of a better comeback.

"Hell yeah," Olson said. His eyes traveled past Jim and Sulu to Camille, and a small smile crept onto his face. She knew that look all too well. It was the exact same look some creep had given her in a bar last week. She'd had to practically tie Bones to his seat to prevent him from murdering the guy. Her glare intensified.

Whatever Olson took that as, it definitely wasn't a death threat. And she'd been getting so good at communicating those, too.

"Don't worry, sweetheart," he said. "We'll take care of you down there."

Camille rolled her eyes. "Take care of yourself," she told him, turning away in disgust.

Sulu eyed her out of his peripheral vision, looking her up and down.

"Not you, too," she growled.

"No," he said. "Definitely not me. I, unlike Olson, have seen McCoy whenever anyone flirts with you. Just…remind me never to piss you off."

 _Assuming we survive._

The shuttle began to lift off as Pike maneuvered it out into space. Forgetting how much she disliked Olson temporarily, Camille forced herself to take a deep breath. She was past her days of not being able to breathe properly. So why did it feel as if they'd suddenly returned?

Jim leaned over to Sulu and asked, "So what kind of combat training do you have?"

Sulu eyed him, knowing how this next statement was going to sound in view of the circumstances, and said shamelessly, "Fencing."

Camille might have laughed in any other time at the look of concern on Jim's face. Shaking her head, she said, "They're Romulans, Jim. One of them is bound to have a blade, right?"

"Still," Olson piped up, "You can never beat good old fists – "

"Shut up!" all three of them shot his way, at the end of their limits. Olson appeared unfazed. Camille couldn't believe such a bozo had made it through Starfleet. And was chief engineer, no less.

"Pre-jump," Pike announced, and they stood to prep themselves. Camille pulled the hood over her head, tucking her ponytail in. The last thing she needed in this situation was her hair in her face. She then took the red helmet she'd been holding and securely attached it to the rest of her suit. The men did the same.

"Shuttle commander, you are cleared for _USS Enterprise_ interspace," the voice said again. Camille attempted to calm her breathing, feeling a bit of panic. Now was not the time for Bones' treatment to fail and the condition to rear its ugly head.

The four sat back down and waited for the shuttle air lock to open and hurl them toward Vulcan and the drill.

"Gentlemen, we're approaching the drop zone," Pike informed them, time not permitting him to address Camille separately. "We have one shot to land on that platform."

They stood up and grabbed hold of the bar that would keep them from plummeting. Camille wondered why, seeing as they would have to let go eventually. She supposed it had been part of some safety regulation she should have paid more attention to, but it mattered not now. She only did it because the men did – well, mostly because Sulu did, and of the three of them he seemed to have the best head on his shoulders.

"They may have defenses set up, so pull your chutes as late as possible," Pike continued, then began counting down. "Three, two, one."

The air lock opened and they were hurtled up against the ceiling, still holding onto the bar. Suddenly Camille understood everything and was glad she'd followed Sulu's lead.

"Remember, the _Enterprise_ won't be able to beam you back until you turn off that drill." There was a pause, and Camille held her breath in anticipation, knowing Pike was about to pull the lever to drop them. "Good luck," came his voice, and in its grimness she knew he meant every word.

The door below the air lock sprang open, the red crust of Vulcan appearing below. Camille had only a split second to mentally brace herself before letting go and hurtling at a break neck speed toward the planet.

From the almost linear fashion in which they fell, first Olson, then Jim, then Sulu, and her last of all, she judged that they had all let go at different times. Her heart seemed to stop as Vulcan rushed up at her, but the drill, also slowly boring its way toward the surface, gave her a place to fix her attention on, and a good thing, too.

She needed to aim this perfectly.

* * *

On both the _Enterprise_ and in the Vulcan atmosphere, the tension was palpable. Though the bridge crew couldn't see the jumpers themselves, those who did not have a separate job to do waited with bated breath, on the edge of their seats, watching the dots on the viewing screen that represented Camille, Jim, Olson, and Sulu.

Karina found herself holding her breath and forced herself to exhale. Meanwhile, in the middle of their space jump, Jim and Camille did the same. They were both reminded of when they went skydiving the previous December. For the sake of all of their ears, Jim was glad Camille refrained from screaming this time.

The heart monitors blipped at a steady rate.

"Avay team is entering ze atmosphere, sir," Chekov informed Spock. "Tventy thousand meters."

He knew Karina was more than likely going out of her mind with worry about her friends who were down there, and wished he could do something to reassure her, even just send a look her way. But his job was set, and to turn away from the screen for even a second would mean possibly missing something important and giving Spock an inaccurate report.

Camille felt her heart beating at a thousand miles per hour. She drew in a deep breath as though to scream, but Jim growled through the radio connecting all of their helmets, "Don't _even_ think about it!" Camille let the breath out in a gust, too freaked out to be miffed.

Karina, meanwhile, saw Camille's heart rate on the monitor going up a bit and leaned over to Uhura. "Is that…normal?"

Uhura shrugged, her mothering instincts kicking in and for once deciding to be cordial to this girl who'd snatched her position right out from under her. "I don't think it's dangerous. How would your heart rate be if you were falling through space?"

Karina nodded. "I guess you're right."

Feeling a weird amount of compassion that was not uncommon for her but that she hadn't felt since she'd first stepped on the bridge and saw Karina sitting in "her" chair, Uhura reached over and put a hand on her arm. "Hey, it's going to be okay."

Karina gave her a look. "You don't believe that for a minute."

"No. No, I do not."

"Honesty appreciated."

Jim let out a noise that Camille didn't know whether to call a groan or a scream, but it made her all the more determined to not let anything out of her own mouth.

Karina was distracted from her worry about Jim and Camille by the officer in charge of monitoring shuttles and their inhabitants on the bridge. "His signal's cut off! I have nothing!"

Pike was lost to them. Karina and Uhura exchanged a look of trepidation. Both of them wondered if they would ever remember they were supposed to be rivals if they survived this.

"Approaching ze platform at fifty-eight hundred meters," Chekov called out.

"Kirk to _Enterprise_ ," Jim radioed in. "Distance to target, 5,000 meters."

"Forty-six hundred meters from ze platform."

"Forty-five hundred meters to target!" Sulu reported.

"Four thousand meters." Jim.

"Thirty-five hundred meters." Camille.

"Three-thousand meters!" Sulu.

"Three-thousand meters!" Olson.

"Two-thousand meters!" Jim _and_ Camille.

"Pulling chute!" Sulu called, and Camille, as was her custom on this particular venture, followed suit a few nanoseconds after. At this rate, Sulu would be the last to land, right after her.

Jim, too, pulled his chute, but Olson still hurtled breakneck toward the drill. Camille briefly wondered if something had gone wrong with his chute until she realized: he was just refusing to pull it.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Two thousand meters!" Olson called out.

"Come on. Pull your chute, Olson!" Jim yelled.

"No, not yet! Not yet! 1,500 meters!"

"Are you nuts?" Camille cried.

"Olson, open your chute!" Sulu shouted.

"Olson, pull your chute!" Jim echoed, the urgency in his voice going largely unnoticed by his crewmate.

"One thousand meters!" Olson called out, and Camille drew in a sharp intake of breath. Even if he pulled his chute before slamming into the planet's surface, there was no way he was getting onto that drill. And he had the charges! Whose idea was that again?

With regret, she realized it had been Pike's, but that mattered little now.

He pulled his chute, but it was far past too late at this point. They heard him cry out as he bounced off of the drill before his chute was even fully opened. Camille winced at the banging sound his body made against the hard metal.

Over and over his body slammed against the drill, growing ever closer to the side. Camille saw what was going to happen even before it came to pass as the spurt of fire coming out of the drills engines came into her view point, and drew in a sharp intake of breath.

Olson fell off the edge of the drill and, with a scream, was sucked to a fiery death inside the jet of flame that powered the Romulan device.

"Olson!" Sulu shouted.

Camille heard Jim's gasp, matching her own a moment earlier. In spite of her dislike of the man, Camille was sure she would regret Olson's death when she had the time to do so. Right now, she needed to focus all her attention on landing on that drill. It was unclear to any of them whether the flames had some sort of magnetic pull, and though it seemed unlikely, they weren't about to take any chances after what they'd just seen.

Back on the bridge, one of the heart monitors blipped off completely. Chekov's eyes widened as he stared at it, trying to register what had just happened. "Ol…Olson is gone, sir."

Karina glanced over at Uhura, whose expression mirrored her own. Neither of them had truly believed that everything was really going to be fine, but now it had just been confirmed. Karina turned back to the screen, her heart pounding even faster as she fixed her eyes on the three heartbeats that remained.


	11. Singularity

**Chapter Eleven: In which we do, in fact, kick Romulan butt, it is revealed exactly what's going on with the planet, and Camille once again exercises her tendency to get injured.**

 **May I just state how much I love the beautiful specimen of human being that is Hikaru Sulu? Also, they do not pay Chekov nearly enough. That is all.**

 **I only own Camille and Karina.**

* * *

Camille watched Jim come in for a landing. He hit just as hard as Olson had, and she winced once more for him. She forgot to breathe, however, as, rather than bouncing across the drill, Jim was pulled along its surface, scrabbling for purchase and finding none. She realized his chute was the problem.

Her heart rose into her throat as she was sure she was about to see recent history repeated, but this time with one of her best friends.

Fortunately, a small crevice in the drill provided a hand hold for Jim, and he latched on. The chute was still about to pull him off the side again.

Camille threatened her racing mind into calm rationality just as she did every night at 11:30 in order to get any amount of sleep. She was going to be no help to Jim if she, too, ended up in the same predicament.

His problem had been that his chute was open. Well, how the heck was one supposed to take care of that problem?

Camille got an idea. It was crazy, but it just might work if she timed it perfectly. When she came within five hundred meters of the drill, she took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and pressed the button to pull her chute back in.

Her slower descent slowly picked up speed and she free fell for a brief few moments, praying, _PleaseletthisworkpleaseletthisworkpleaseletthisworkpleaseletthisworkiffornootherreasonthantoproveBoneswrongpleaseletthiswork!_

Bones…

Suddenly she felt herself slam into something – but it wasn't a drill, or the hard ground of Vulcan for that matter.

An ill-fated Romulan had broken her fall.

They slammed back into the side of the drill's inner chamber, and the Romulan was knocked unconscious. Camille shook her head to clear herself of the daze and scrambled to her feet. Jim, of course, was in the heat of a battle with a heavily-armed Romulan. They were caught in a lock with the Romulan's formidable firearm in between them. Jim thrust it upward so as to knock it out of his hands, but that attempt failed rather miserably – and shot several holes in Sulu's chute as it went.

 _Oh, lovely,_ Camille thought, but another Romulan clambered out of the hatch Jim's had just come from and came after her. All thoughts of Sulu's predicament faded from her mind as she began to fight for her life.

It quickly became apparent this was going to be an uneven match. Camille, for all her skill with martial arts, was a small woman, and this guy was about the size of Jim and Bones, probably with strength beyond human capacity. She knew Vulcans were stronger than humans, and Vulcans and Romulans shared a similar ancestry.

Camille hadn't even had time to remove her helmet, but as it turned out, that was a good thing. The Romulan's fist slammed into the side of her head, knocking her helmet clean off and sending her sliding toward the edge of the drill. She scrambled to get closer in, but her opponent kicked her in the side, where she was unguarded. Pain shot through her, but she gritted her teeth and swept her feet up and around, not quite catching his feet but clipping them enough to unbalance him.

In her sweep around, Camille had forced herself to half-hang off of the drill. Kilometers below, the red crust of Vulcan loomed in her vision, momentarily causing her heart to drop – where to, she didn't know, considering she was lying on her back. Knowing he would regain steady footing soon, she hauled herself to her feet and moved around to the back of him, ready to do battle.

She chanced a glance over in Jim's direction. He was still fighting with his Romulan. She breathed a quick sigh of relief to see that Sulu had made it onto the drill somehow, but was quickly distracted by the Romulan coming at her again.

Where he used his fists, she used her feet. He swung for her head again, but she ducked and lashed out with a kick to his torso. She'd landed a few good blows on him before he got another one on her.

She saw his knife coming a bit too late and dodged, but it still caught her on the left shoulder, leaving a deep gash on her side. She shrieked in pain and grabbed it, when a second blow to her jaw sent her slamming to the metal.

"Cam!" Jim shouted, before he himself met a similar fate at the hand of his opponent.

She dodged him once, twice, then rolled away, crying out again as her injured shoulder met with the ground, and somewhere in the midst of that thought to grab for her phaser. However, the likelihood of her getting enough time to do so was rather slim at the moment.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the Romulan Jim had been fighting standing on the edge of the drill and stamping his feet on a particular area over and over again. Jim must be hanging off of the side. That bastard was trying to break his fingers!

Resolve surged through her that she would beat this guy, and afterwards, save her friend.

Instead of merely rolling on her side, Camille now tucked and rolled until she was back to back with Sulu. Suddenly a force slammed into her as Sulu's Romulan kicked him, knocking him back and into Camille. Hers was caught off guard as she sailed past him, back to where she'd been not two minutes ago.

From her position on the ground, Camille saw a jet of fire spurt up just behind the other Romulan. An idea entered her head, and she grabbed her phaser, firing at the Romulan who was now turning to finish her off.

Poetically, she caught him on the left shoulder as well, forcing him backward. Ignoring the searing pain in her own shoulder, she rose to her feet. Evidently, Sulu had had the same idea, for he was giving a few good punches to his own opponent's face and throat. Simultaneously, they both rose up and roundhouse kicked the two Romulans backward. They looked down at the grill they were standing on, then back up at Sulu and Camille, their expressions of horror revealing that they knew exactly what was going to happen.

A jet of fire blasted up again, cooking both of the Romulans right where they stood. Camille shielded her eyes from the glare, Sulu squinted against it, as their foes' screams echoed across the drill.

They both whirled to check on Jim. He cried out as the Romulan finally scored a blow on his fingers, forcing him to hold himself up with one hand.

Camille aimed her phaser and fired, but nothing worked. Panicking, she tried hurriedly to fix it. Something had jammed –

Suddenly there was the sound of tearing flesh and the Romulan groaned in agony. Sulu had come up behind him, sticking his sword straight into his back. While Camille had been caught up on the phaser, Sulu had been the one to actually act, using good old-fashioned swordplay.

 _Well, what do you know_? Camille thought, then, looking at the drill that they still had to disable, realized a potential technicality that might wreck this entire mission.

Sulu was pulling Jim up onto the drill again. She ran over to them. "Boys! We have a problem."

Both men were panting, and Camille found that she too was out of breath. Sulu, already fully aware of said problem, voiced it. "Olson had the charges."

"I know," Jim called over the noise of the drill.

He glanced up at Camille, and she smiled. She knew that look. James T. Kirk had a plan up his sleeve.

He darted in between her and Sulu, a man on a mission.

"What do we do?" Sulu asked, clearly getting the same vibe as Camille.

Jim grabbed the weapon his Romulan had dropped. "This!"

Realizing there were two other weapons nearby that their Romulans must have discarded at some point, Camille and Sulu also grabbed one. Knowing they were firearms of some kind, they pointed them at the drill's core and began firing.

Blast after blast fired from all three blasters into the core. The drill shook as the fire it was expelling slowly rescinded back into the drill itself. Finally, the jarring sensation stopped and the noise quieted some –but not much.

Camille looked at the men triumphantly. They'd done it.

Their victory was short-lived, however, as something that looked rather like a metal spider rocketed out of the atmosphere from the direction of the Romulan ship and imbedded itself in the Vulcan turf. Camille looked at the men, frowning, and saw that their expressions mirrored her own.

Cautiously, Jim raised his wrist to his mouth, pressing the communicator button.

* * *

A chorus of beeping erupted on the ship. Karina felt a surge of victory for Jim, Camille and Sulu. They'd been successful.

"The jamming signal's gone!" Uhura called. "Transporting abilities are reestablished!"

"We have Communication abilities, as well!" Karina added.

"Transporter control is reengaged, sir," Chekov said from the helm.

"Chekov, run gravitational scanners," Spock ordered. "I want to know what they are doing to the planet."

"Aye, Commander – ugh! Keptin," Chekov corrected. "Sorry. Keptin."

Karina smiled to herself. Good. She wasn't the only one who was having issue remembering that little change.

"Bartowski," Spock continued, "contact Starfleet Command and inform them of our predicament."

"Aye, sir!"

Karina scrabbled to establish contact, but something was wrong. For all purposes, her system should be working…and it wasn't.

"I don't understand," she muttered, frantically trying again and again. "Sir, for appearances' sake, my controls should be working, but I don't know what's going on! I can't send a transmission of any kind!"

Suddenly, Jim's voice came in over the comm. "Kirk to _Enterprise_. They just launched something at the planet through the hole they just drilled. Do you copy, _Enterprise_?" he added, his voice growing more urgent.

Spock nodded at her. "Respond."

"Yes, sir," she said, thinking how weird it felt to call Jim "sir."

Suddenly, there came a blaring alarm sound from somewhere near the helm, and Karina looked in Pavel's direction. Clearly, whatever was going on was serious, judging from the tenseness of his shoulders. Of course, it could be nothing other than the overall gravity of the situation, but she had gotten fairly good at reading her friend over the past year. And as it turned out, she wasn't wrong.

"Keptin, grawitational sensors are off ze scale. If my calculations are correct, zey're creating a singularity" – he turned around to face Spock, and for a moment appeared to consider how best to word whatever he was going to say next – "zat will…consume ze planet."

Karina drew in a sharp intake of breath, and Uhura next to her tensed and turned around, her jaw dropping.

Spock himself was silent for a moment, but when he spoke, all the horror he felt was in his voice. "They're creating a black hole at the center of Vulcan?"

Chekov nodded. "Yes, sir."

"How long does the planet have?"

Chekov considered the matter briefly before answering, then, though it wasn't the answer he wanted to give, decided it was the only one he could "Minutes, sir. Minutes."

Spock rose from his chair immediately. Uhura, who had also risen from her seat, eyed him as he stalked over to her and Karina. "Alert Vulcan Command-Center to signal a planet-wide evacuation, all channels, all frequencies. Maintain standard orbit."

"Spock, wait!" Uhura called, running after him.

Karina, though she knew he couldn't hear her at this point, said, "Yes, sir," and attempted to establish contact with Vulcan. For some reason that was working, where contacting Starfleet itself hadn't.

Suddenly with a sinking feeling, she realized this meant that the Romulans were convinced that any kind of evacuation would do the Vulcans no good. They were as good as dead already.

And evidently, if the icon that signaled she was now able to establish contact with Starfleet blipping back on screen was any indicator, they no longer considered the Federation a threat, either.

From the direction of the lift, Spock called, "Chekov, you have the conn."

"Aye," Pavel affirmed, then, though Karina didn't know how she could hear from across the bridge, what with all the noise and chaos, he muttered under his breath, "Ay yiy yiy…"

One day in, and already she was fairly certain he needed to ask for a raise. In spite of the circumstances, Karina found herself smirking and shaking her head as she tapped in the alert to Vulcan Command-Center. She just hoped it got there in time.

Jim's voice came over the communicator again. "Kirk to _Enterprise_! Beam us out of here!"

"Stand by. Locking onto your signal," the woman in charge of transportations, somewhere to Karina's right, said as Karina finalized the transmission. Karina breathed a sigh of relief that Jim and Camille were coming back on the ship.

Her relief was short-lived, however, when Pavel called out, "They're retracting the drill."

"I can't lock on," the red-shirted woman said. "I can't lock on!" Into the comm, she called, "I can't lock onto you! Don't move! Don't move!"

Chekov shot a glance back Karina's way and saw the mounting panic on her face before all hell broke loose, both on the drill below and on the bridge.

* * *

They were still unsure of what had been launched at the planet, but Camille breathed a sigh of relief when the transporter officer reported that she would beam them up.

She and Jim had moved closer to the center of the drill, but Sulu was standing at the edge, still trying to catch a glimpse of whatever had just fallen to the planet. She frowned, wondering if he should be standing that close to the –

Suddenly the Romulan device gave a lurch, heaving itself upward. Jim pushed Camille back against the drill's core before being knocked to the ground himself. The metal was still hot, and Camille screamed in agony as it seared through her uniform to the skin of her back.

She scanned the scene in front of her and her eyes widened in horror.

The lurching drill had thrown Sulu off balance. He teetered on the edge of the drill for a moment, and Camille almost thought he might regain his footing.

"I can't lock onto you!" came the transporter officer's voice through Jim's communicator. "Don't move! Don't move!"

It was those critical few seconds that determined Sulu's fate. As his foot left contact with the drill, he seemed to float for a few moments before he cried out, "Kirk!" and was gone.

"SULU!" Jim screamed, and ran for the edge of the drill.

"Jim, NO!" Camille cried, and tried to move, but the combination of her shoulder wound, slowly but surely still leaking blood, and the new burn on her back, shot searing pain through her body and she fell to her knees, utterly helpless.

Jim took a flying leap off the side and disappeared from view.

"JIM!" Camille screamed, long and drawn out, full of a fear she was all too familiar with by now. It was the same fear she'd felt when Karina had gotten kidnapped back in January – a protective, maternal fear.

She crawled for the edge of the drill, determined to follow but suddenly she had a strange, weightless sensation. Looking down, she saw the shimmer that accompanied being beamed aboard a ship.

"No – I have to - ," she groaned, crawling toward the side. "I – they – "

She'd nearly made it to the side, but it was already too late. The ship's transporters had her. The last thing she saw before the horizon went black was a blue chute rising into the air right in front of her face. Briefly in her delusional state, she thought that odd.

The next thing she was aware of was slamming into the cold, hard surface of the transporter room floor, grateful at least to be on her stomach and not her back.

Then the truth of the matter occurred to her. That blue chute floating up through the air –

 _They're falling without a chute!_


	12. Beam Us Up!

**Chapter Twelve: In which Camille goes mad - MAD, I TELL YOU! - Chekov is adorable as always, Karina is impressed, and our hearts collectively break. But hey, we cover my favorite and least favorite parts of this film in one chapter! Fun fact.**

 **Enjoy, read, review!**

 **I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Someone came up to Camille, sat her up, helped her off the pad, and started scanning her. "Ma'am, can you tell me your – "

"Beam them up!" she screamed frantically. "Beam them up now!"

"Miss, you're bleeding profusely and severely burned. We will help your friends, but you need to let us help you, too, or you will bleed out all over this deck," said the person she assumed was a medical officer of some kind.

In a frenzy, Camille scrambled to her feet and stumbled over to the manual control board screaming at the officer in charge of that. "Beam them up! Get them now!"

The man was frantically trying. "I can't lock onto their signal!" he cried. "They're moving too fast!"

Normally Camille liked to consider herself a relatively calm person in emergencies, but the lack of blood in her system, combined with the searing pain the burns were still causing her, drove any semblance of common sense out of her system, and she grabbed him and shoved him aside, trying to beam Jim and Sulu up herself.

So, naturally, she didn't notice the medic rummaging in his bag and bringing out a syringe. The last thing she remembered before the world went black was giving a cry of pain as the sedative was shot into her neck. Then, with a final thought to her ill-fated friends, Camille was out.

* * *

"Kirk to _Enterprise_! We're falling without a chute! Beam us up!"

Karina froze and whirled in her seat to stare at the viewing screen, as if she could somehow see Jim and register that what he was saying was in fact, true, and thereby give validation to the terror settling in the pit of her stomach.

"I'm trying!" the transportation officer said, frantically tapping away at her screen as Jim continued to demand to be beamed up. "I can't lock onto your signal! You're moving too fast!"

"Beam us up!"

Chekov stared at his screen for a moment, registering what was going on. "I can do zat… I can do zat!" He stood up, then turned to the woman in Sulu's place. "Take ze conn!"

"Aye, sir."

Karina, not about to be left behind, shot up and raced after him. Uhura, who had been looking off in his general direction wondering when, exactly, the acting captains were going to stop abandoning their posts, grabbed after her, but was left empty-handed. Karina had spent a lot of time running the past few years, even before she met Pavel. She was not about to be left behind in this instance.

However, she was at least five meters behind. He had a head start. It took about a minute of full-on sprinting before she managed to catch up with him, and once she was there, it appeared that sprinting was the order of the day.

"Move, move, move, move, move!" he shouted at everyone even anywhere close to in their way.

"Pavel!" Karina called, slightly out of breath and more than a little worried about what was going on down on Vulcan.

"I can do zat! I can do zat!" he kept saying, completely ignoring her. "Move, move, move, move!"

Suddenly, it occurred to her where they were headed: the transporter room.

Rounding the corner, he skidded to a halt, grabbing onto the controls to stop himself. "Quick, give me manual control! I can lock on!"

Karina, a few steps behind, did likewise, staring over his shoulder with wide eyes. Briefly opening her mouth to ask where the heck he'd learned how to do that, exactly, she snapped it shut once again. Jim, Camille, and Sulu would have a better chance of survival if she just let Pavel work.

"Beam us up!" came Jim's voice again, now being transmitted into this room as well, and Karina couldn't help herself. She grabbed onto Pavel's shoulder, as if that would make him work faster. Her fingers were like claws in his flesh, but Chekov dutifully continued to ignore her and the pain and kept working.

" _Enterprise_ , where are you?"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on!" Chekov shouted.

"Now, now, now! Do it now! Now, now, now, now!"

"Holy Moses…" Karina gasped, using a phrase one of the nuns had introduced her to back at the abbey and gripping still tighter.

"Okay, okay! Hold on!" Chekov called, still totally focused. "Compensating grawitational pull aaaannnndddd…."

Jim and Sulu's screams filled the room, and for a brief moment, Karina allowed herself to be terrified by the fact that Camille's were nowhere to be found. Their signals got ever closer and closer to slamming into the crust of Vulcan…

"Gotcha!" Chekov exclaimed triumphantly.

Rather than the hard, unforgiving planet surface, Jim and Sulu instead slammed into the still hard but not-quite-as-unforgiving transporter pad with a thud, groaning but very much alive.

Chekov gave a cry of excitement and leaped up from where he'd been sitting in front of the controls. "Yo moya!"

The man who'd been in charge before gave Karina a look, and she shrugged. It was no longer her job to translate. They could just make assumptions about that one all they wanted.

Jim and Sulu continued to groan in pain as Sulu raised himself up on his elbow, Jim on all fours.

"Thanks," Sulu said.

Jim looked over at him, still not quite able to believe they'd survived that. "No problem."

Karina rushed to the pad to help them up. Once Jim was on his feet, she grabbed his shoulders and asked, "Cam?"

He shook his head, not in a way that told her that Camille was dead, but in a way that told her he had absolutely no idea.

"Oh my lord…" she breathed, trying to calm herself.

Spock suddenly strode into the room, catching them all off guard. "Clear the pad. I'm beaming to the surface."

Karina, Jim, and Sulu stared at him, jaws slightly agape as they watched him strap a phaser to his side.

"The surface of what?" Jim asked, ushering the other two off the platform. "What, are you going down there? Are you nuts?"

Spock knelt, ignoring him. There seemed to be a lot of ignoring going on in the past few minutes.

"Spock, you can't do that!"

"Energize," Spock commanded, and, him being the captain, Chekov had no choice but to comply.

"Spock!"

But Spock had already started to disappear.

As their captain faded from view and it became apparent nothing was to be done for the time being, one of the men who had been in charge of manual and had been watching the incident with mild interest, rose and turned to Karina and Jim.

"If this 'Cam' you were talking about was the woman we beamed aboard a few moments ago, you should know she's fine. Just on her way to med bay. She was in a bit of a frenzy. The medical officer here said it probably had something to do with blood loss."

"Blood loss?" Karina exclaimed, her voice a few octaves higher than usual.

"Long story, Kar," Jim said.

Still a bit worried but mostly just relieved that Camille was alive, Karina turned to Pavel, who was entirely focused on the screen in front of him still, waiting for Spock to get back to him.

"So, that was…impressive," she said. Turning to Jim and Sulu, she glared at them. Feeling rather like a pair of boys being scolding by their mother, they both cleared their throats, scratching at the back of their necks uncomfortably.

"Yeah…thanks," they mumbled, or something along the lines thereof. Satisfied, Karina turned back to Chekov, who had simply nodded and gone back to his focus point.

"Where'd you learn that in Navigation?" Karina asked, completely oblivious.

Sulu, however, understanding Chekov's need for focus, having worked with the kid for the past few months on something other than learning English, and realizing how he worked in these situations, answered that question. "We're trained in a lot of areas, Karina. The navigation officers are sort of jacks of all trades."

She nodded, seeming to take that in. Then she turned back to Jim, the blood draining from her face once more as she realized how close of a shave that had been.

He came up and put an arm around her. "It's okay now, Kari," he said. "Just calm down, kid."

But it wasn't okay. She knew it wasn't okay. Spock was still down there, and as much as she had disliked him before, with all that he'd put them through that day alone, she had no desire to see him die like this. Besides, there were plenty of innocent Vulcans down on that planet that didn't deserve to die for some sin Spock had supposedly committed.

"Spock to _Enterprise_. Get us out now."

"Locking wolume. Don't move. Stay right where you are," Chekov told them. "Transport in five, four, three, two…"

Suddenly, through the conn, a woman's scream rang out as an alarm began to sound and Spock yelled, "Mother!"

"I'm losing her!" Chekov exclaimed, frantically trying to regain a lock on Spock's mother. "I'm losing her! I'm losing her!"

There was a moment of silence as the alarm kept going. "No, I lost her... I lost her…"

His voice trailed off, the horror of what had just happened crashing over them all.

Seven images began shimmering on the pad, and the Vulcans slowly came into view. Spock was frozen, a look of horror on his face, his arm stretched out, as though he'd tried to grab his mother as she fell.

A stunned silence pervaded the transporter room.

Karina felt glued to the spot, her hand over her mouth, the shock of what had just happened causing her to near hyperventilate. Jim's arm had fallen from around her as he looked up at Spock, then down at the floor. He still hated the man, but acknowledged his loss in the way that only someone who has had a parent ripped from them before their time can.

Sulu, just as affected by what he'd seen as the rest of them, but slightly more in control of himself, brought a hand up to rest on Karina's shoulder. It had occurred to him alone that she had never witnessed a death before, never been that close, and that in all reality, sixteen was far too young for something like that.

Speaking of, his eyes went to Chekov. The kid stared at the screen in front of him, exactly where his eyes had been since he'd lost the lock on Amanda Grayson, still trying to comprehend what had just gone down. Finally, he brought himself to power the system down. Sulu felt a surge of compassion for his friend. Chekov was seventeen. He was way too young to be responsible for that many lives.

Sulu looked back and forth from Chekov to Karina, and frowned. That was the problem here. They were just way too young. Like Spock's mother had been.

Chekov managed to tear his eyes away from the screen and looked over at Sulu. Suddenly faced with the decision of what, exactly, he was supposed to do in this situation, as comforting face-to-face had never been his strong suit. He was just about to affect what he hoped was a look of comfort, but as it turned out he didn't have to.

Chekov's eyes went to Karina. She was completely oblivious, still staring at the spot where Spock's mother should have materialized. However, the shock and horror on her face were condemnation enough, though she never would have intended it as so were she conscious of what she was doing.

A cloud passed over Chekov's face, and he stood up and walked out of the room, self-condemnation dogging his steps. Sulu wanted to go after him, but found himself unable to move, and realized that perhaps this was affecting him just as much as the others.

The three of them stood there, staring at the Vulcans, who seemed just as shocked. Most of them allowed emotion to penetrate their faces for once, though they were the elders of the race.

Jim looked to Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek. He recognized him from studying interplanetary relations at the Academy. Sarek looked as though he were trying to keep his composure, and only barely managing it. Jim found himself not sure whether he hated Sarek for not expressing his grief and continuing to robot on, or hated Vulcan society for forbidding that he do anything but.

Spock stepped off of his spot on the pad, and Karina thought for a moment that maybe he would finally break. Though she didn't relish him doing so, not like this. Never like this. She wouldn't wish the loss of a parent on anyone, be they friend or foe.

Then his face hardened, and her old xenolinguistics instructor was back, stoic and unyielding. Only his voice gave him away.

"Ensign Bartowksi, please see Cadet Kirk and Lieutenant Sulu to medical bay," he said, his words hollow and the grief boring through in spite of his attempts to quell it. "If you would then attempt to locate Ensign Chekov, I require all of my bridge crew and senior officers for a conference on the bridge within an hour. If anyone should need my assistance I will be…escorting the elders to the shuttle bay, where we will meet the survivors of this disaster."

He strode out, followed by the other Vulcans.

Karina turned to Jim and Sulu, and her eyes widened. "Jim, your – your hand!"

He looked down at his left hand, bloody and crushed, the nails broken from the Romulan's boot.

"I'm right-handed, Karina," he said. "And besides…it doesn't matter now."

The three of them walked out of the transporter room, heading toward med bay.


	13. Never Enough Time

**Chapter Thirteen: In which Bones blows a gasket, Chekov wrestles with guilt, and we see a bit of foreshadowing...**

 **I'm sorry I missed updating yesterday! Homework and school are killing me. But hey, incidentally: a character will come into this chapter that feels randomly placed. SHE HAS A POINT. SHE WILL COME BACK IN.**

 **Despair not.**

 **I only own my OCs. Read, review, enjoy!**

* * *

Camille's eyelids fluttered open to find Bones standing above her, his face livid. If not for his eyes, she would never have known he was concerned. Fortunately, she knew how to read him better than that.

"Dammit, woman!" he exclaimed. "You could have died!"

Camille groaned and raised herself on her elbows, amazed that she didn't feel any pain. "Yeah, well, I knew as long as I could make it back on board the ship, you would never let that happen, Bones. And at least I didn't attempt to jump off the drill after Jim!"

"You – what – " Bones whirled, and Camille followed his gaze to where Jim sat, his hand being bandaged by Christine. "You jumped _off of the drill_?" Bones demanded. Jim shrugged, all of his normal vitality and arrogance gone. Camille knew instantly something was wrong.

"Sulu?" she asked, fear filling her.

Jim shook his head. "Just about 7 billion Vulcans, give or take."

Camille gasped. That was nearly the entire populace of the planet. "What happened?"

"A black hole," Karina's voice suddenly came from behind her. Camille whirled to find the younger girl sitting on the other side of her bed. She vaguely wondered how long Karina had been there.

"The Romulans had some kind of technology to create one," Karina continued, her voice devoid of any emotion. "The planet's gone. Only about a sixth of the population survived, like Jim said. At least, that's what Spock estimates. He managed to beam down and save the elders, but…" She shuddered and her voice trailed off.

Camille turned to Bones and Jim, but the latter was tight-lipped and refused to speak. Bones' face was grim. "Spock's mother didn't make it. Sounds like the planet was crumbling, and the piece of it she was standing on happened to give way. They couldn't keep a lock on her."

Karina's eyes appeared drawn by something, and she frowned, turning back to Bones. "It's not like there was anything to be done about it," she said, her voice surprisingly defensive. _What's up with that?_ Camille wondered.

"That's not what I meant, Kar, and you know it," Bones said, his dad-voice coming out.

Suddenly he was cut off by Spock on the broadcaster. "All senior officers, including Engineering and Medical, report to the bridge in precisely thirty minutes. A meeting in regard to recent occurrences is called."

After a brief moment of silence, Bones said, "You'd think the man was a robot or something. His mother just died, and he's going about business as usual."

"Yeah, well, he's Vulcan," Camille said, her eyes still on Karina. The younger girl's eyes were still trained on the doorway, but try as she might, Camille couldn't pinpoint what she was looking at, exactly. Finally Karina rose to her feet – no, _surged_ was a better term, as though driven by some unseen force.

Her tone still clipped, she said, "Well, now that my mind's at rest that you're going to wake up, Cam, I'd better get back to the bridge. See you all in thirty minutes."

Camille watched her go, then turned back to Bones. "Wait. I'm included in this?"

"The senior weapons officer was on Deck Four. Died in the same explosion as Dr. Puri," Bones told her. Jim had gotten up after his hand was finished being bandaged and gone off, saying nothing. He'd been rather subdued ever since she'd awoken, and Camille was rather unsettled by it.

"So there's no one of higher rank than me?" she asked. "Seriously?"

"Apparently," Bones muttered. "Oh, yeah, Juliet's chief engineer at the moment. Just until we can find someone to replace Olson. Incidentally, mind telling me just exactly what you were thinking?" His voice became sharp, and Camille almost recoiled at the sudden turn of things. "You could have been killed."

"What was I supposed to do? Refuse Captain Pike's orders?" Camille asked, glaring at him.

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about you almost jumping off of that drill after Jim and Sulu! Cam, do you value your own life at all?"

"I'm not going to just let my friends die, Bones! I had a chute, too!"

"That doesn't mean you would have caught up to them, even if Jim's chute had worked! There was nothing more to be done!"

Camille was off the bed at this point, in no pain whatsoever, but she took no time to marvel at the fact. Right now she was on tiptoes, straight up in Bones' face.

"So I would have pulled my own chute once I saw that Jim and Sulu were okay! Just like Jim was planning on when he jumped."

"And what's to say they would have been able to beam you up once you landed? Look at what happened to Spock's mother! You would have gone down with Vulcan. Dammit, Cam, your life may not mean that much to you, but it does to me!"

They both stood there frozen for a few moments, Bones realizing what he'd just said, and Camille processing it. The air was charged. They could practically see the sparks flying. Camille, her eyes wide, slid a hand up to rest on his chest.

"Bones…"

The shock of his own impulsive sentence written all over Bones' face softened, as he raised his hand to grab hers. "I don't want to lose you, Camille," he whispered, his voice hoarse. "Ever. But especially not like that."

Still on tiptoes, Camille held her breath as his face slowly started to lower towards hers. All she could do was stare at his lips as they drew closer and closer –

"Doctor!"

Bones pulled back, groaning under his breath. "Yes, Nurse Chapel?" he asked, relinquishing his hold on Camille's hand.

"We have a Vulcan who's gone insane from the trauma," she said. "Requesting your permission to administer sedatives."

Rubbing his forehead, mentally exhausted and frustrated at the interruption, Bones replied, "Granted. I'll be right over."

Christine nodded and looked back and forth between the pair of them. Being a woman, and one who could see two yards in front of her face, she sensed the tension in the air, and had a hint as to what it was about. However, also being a tactful woman, she chose to exit the premises.

Bones turned back to Camille, but the moment was gone. They both knew it, but were loath to admit it.

"You'd better go get changed, Cam," he said. "Spock will want you in something…more befitting a senior officer when you get on the bridge."

"Back to the red shirt for me," she said, attempting to keep the mood light. Well, lighter than it had been. She turned to go, but before she did, she whirled back around. "Bones!"

He started at the sound of her voice, then turned to face her. Camille realized that everything she wanted was standing right in front of her. She cursed the fact that there was no time, that they needed to get after the Romulan ship.

"We'll have this discussion later?" she asked, intending it to come out as a statement, but her voice went up at the end, revealing just how vulnerable her heart was in that instant.

Bones nodded and went back to his business. Camille wished for more, but once again, there was no time.

There was never enough time.

* * *

Karina had caught a glimpse of Pavel standing in the doorway to med bay just before Bones had told Camille what had happened to Spock's mother. Well, not exactly him. Just a shadow. But she had known who it was the instant it had appeared.

Did she know how that was? No. She wasn't exactly psychic, though Jim had sometimes accused her of being so. But from the first day she'd met him, she'd had a connection with Pavel Chekov she couldn't explain.

So of course, she'd hurriedly defended the situation to Bones. She knew that Bones had meant no harm, and of course he'd seen right through her sharp words to their actual meaning. But by the time she'd said them and turned back to the doorway, the shadow was gone.

So here she was, searching the decks for her friend. If she knew him at all, she knew he was probably beating himself up right about now, for no particular reason. It seemed her day was consisting of chasing that crazy Russian punk around this entire ship.

Finally, she caught up to him just as he was boarding the lift. She slipped on right before the doors shut, barely avoiding getting her short skirt caught in their wake.

She stood across from him, but he appeared to stare right past her. Karina felt a jolt of fear run through her. What if he never came back from this? What if this affected the way he lived the rest of his life – negatively? She knew, from personal experience, just how easily that could happen to a person.

Well, not this time. Not if she had anything to say about it.

She pressed the button that paused the lift midway and waited. When he still refused to look at her, she sighed and moved to stand beside him.

"Okay. How are you doing?" she asked, wincing inwardly at how casual it sounded. When he managed a shrug, she turned and gave him a look. "And don't you even try lying to me, Pavel Chekov, because you know I'll see right through it."

"You alvays do," he muttered, and she gave a small smile.

"Well, at least I got a few words out of you," she said. When he remained silent, she put a hand on his shoulder, thinking of how it rather mimicked Sulu's actions with her earlier. How simple a gesture, yet a world of compassion was behind it in any situation. She only hoped that was conveyed.

"Pavel, _please_ just tell me what you're thinking," she said. "If you can tell anyone, you can tell me. And I'm not about to let you just bottle it up. So just…out with it."

He remained silent for a few minutes. Then he finally spoke, and Karina tried not to be too relieved.

"I couldn't save her, Karina," he said. "Think about it. Kirk and Sulu vere about to smash into ze crust of Wulcan, and I steel managed to pull zem out of thin air." His accent grew even thicker when he was upset, Karina noted. If that were even possible.

"But I steel couldn't stop ze Keptin's mother from falling, even ven I already had a lock on her. I saved Kirk and Sulu, I saved Spock and all ze elders, but I couldn't save her. Vat if zis happens again? Vat if it's you next time, and I can't save you?"

If it were anyone else, Karina might have been made uncomfortable by the fact that she was the person they feared losing most, but she supposed it made sense with Pavel. And plus, she had bigger issues to focus on. Like what the heck she was supposed to say to that.

Exactly what she had said to Bones earlier.

She grabbed his other shoulder and turned him to face her head on.

"None of what happened back there was your fault," she insisted. "There were a million factors involved. Spock's mother could have been standing a few centimeters further away from the edge. He could have gotten them out a bit faster. The Romulan's technology could have failed, or, for that matter, been dropped a few seconds sooner. Or later. Then _no one_ would have survived, probably not even those of us safely on the ship."

He shrugged again, still not looking her in the eye. "Maybe," he admitted.

"Not just maybe, Pavel," she said. "There was _nothing_ you could have done. Do you hear me?"

No response. She was getting rather tired of this subdued version of him. She'd thought once his father was out of the picture, they'd moved past this.

Not sure what possessed her to do it, she mimicked a move she'd seen Camille do with Bones and hoped it worked on all men universally. She grabbed his chin between her right thumb and fingers and pulled his face down until he was forced to look her in the eye.

It worked until he asked, "Ummmm…Karina? Vat are you doing?"

"Forcing you to look at me," she said, a bit sheepish. "Doesn't this work?"

He considered the matter. "Vell, yes," he conceded, his voice a bit contorted by her grip. "But it also kind of hurts."

She dropped her hand. "Oh, right. Sorry. But will you at least look at me now?"

"If I can awoid zat? _Da_. Pretty sure I'd look at a Klingon for an extended period of time in order to do zat."

She laughed. "See, that's what I was going for! You're joking again!"

He frowned. "I vas being serious, Karina."

"Okay, okay! Point is," she paused, wondering how best to actually do this. Finally, she settled on an option. Pulling the right shoulder of her dress down, she revealed something that only Camille actually knew about.

His eyes widened at the scar. "How long have you had zat?"

"Almost two years," she said. "Our first year at the Academy, I had an encounter with some Romulans. They kicked me around a little. No one but Camille knows about this. She's my roommate, it'd be a bit hard for her to miss it. But Jim and Bones don't. No reason for Jim to hate Romulans any more than he already does, and Bones…well, I don't have much opportunity to reveal my shoulders around the man."

"So, vy are you showing me zis?" Pavel asked, confused.

"Because the point is, the Romulans are the only ones you should be blaming in this situation. Certainly not yourself. No one else. The Romulans are cruel. At least, these ones are. And the ones who almost killed me a year and a half ago are."

Chekov found himself staring at her scar. It wasn't huge. Just a thin white line running the length of her shoulder. But it was enough to fuel his anger. He didn't know if these Romulans were the same as Karina's, but it was enough of an association to make him dislike the species that had hurt his friend.

The thought of anyone doing such a thing to Karina lit a fire inside him he couldn't explain. And the idea that they had destroyed an entire race of people just made it rise higher and higher.

Karina saw something breaking, while at the same time hardening within him. Then he turned back to her, and the only thing she saw was brokenness.

"But she's still dead, Karina," he said.

She sighed, wishing she had some sort of words to make that better. But she didn't.

"Yeah, she is," she said, unable to deny the truth. "But that is not. Your. Fault. Do you hear me?" she asked again.

When he didn't respond, she did the only thing she knew how to. She pulled him into a tight hug and felt him relax against her, all the tension going out of him. He hugged her back, and she felt that this wasn't just good for him. She'd never seen death before today, and she'd lost a bit of her innocence too.

He seemed to know this. "I'm sorry you had to see zat," he said.

She shrugged within the hug. "Neither of us should have had to witness what we did today. At least if you ask Sulu. We're too young, according to him."

"When did he say zat?"

"Oh, about five minutes after we got to med bay. He went on a bit of a rant. You know how he gets when he's worked up about something."

Chekov laughed and pulled out of the hug. He walked over and pressed the button that would start the lift up again. "Ve probably shouldn't keep ze lift blocked up anymore," he commented.

Karina shrugged again. "Hey, I got you laughing. That's all I asked for."

He leaned up against the wall of the lift and, to his mild surprise, she leaned up against him. "You think this is one of those defining moments they talk about?" she asked.

"Vat do you mean?"

"You know, one of those moments we'll look back on and say, because of this, insert-better-living-principle here?" she clarified.

He shrugged. "Is possible."

It occurred to them both simultaneously that this was the first conversation they'd had in all English, without trying. Though neither was aware that the other was thinking the same thing, they made eye contact and it became apparent that their train of thought was the same.

Grinning as the lift opened, Karina and Chekov deemed that a more serious persona was probably a good idea as they stepped onto the bridge. Karina still couldn't help a small half-smile, though. She'd got him smiling again. And that was the end goal, after all, wasn't it?

* * *

Captain Christopher Pike lay on his back, strapped down by the Romulans, tortured, in pain, and with a sinking feeling in his gut. Yes, he was about to die, but even worse, he'd betrayed the Federation. He could comfort himself with the fact that he had been forced to, that he couldn't control himself. Yet even knowledge of what Centaurian slugs did to one's mind when ingested did little to assuage his guilt.

Pike hoped they'd kill him soon. He despised himself.

It didn't help that he was wet, and this ship wasn't exactly balmy. The systems all around him, monitoring his life signal and making sure the straps held, appeared to be run by the water sloshing below him. In his struggle with the Centaurian slug, the Romulans struggling to hold him down had kicked up a veritable tsunami of water, and hence he was soaked.

He had no idea what Nero was on about, claiming that the Federation was the cause of something that hadn't even happened yet. It had, of course, occurred to him that these Romulans were from the future. The size of their ship would suggest that, but even so, one would think future technology could afford some in-ship heating system, right?

Pike sensed a presence to his right. Turning, he glared at the figure shrouded in the darkness.

"If you want more out of me, you might as well save your breath," he growled. "Centaurian slugs are hard to come by, I'm told, so you can't just have a supply of them lying about. If you think I'm going to give you anything under my own volition – "

"I'm not here to question you." The figure's voice was low and distinctly female. "I'm here to help you."

Pike attempted to sit up, but all he could manage was to slightly lift his head off the slab of metal. He'd assumed his company to be male, based on height, but he supposed some Earth women were tall enough, as well. Romulans possessed a tad more physical strength than humans, why shouldn't they be taller as well?

However, as she moved out of the shadows, Pike's eyes widened.

"You're – Orion?" he asked.

The green-skinned woman nodded. Pike eyed her up and down. He'd had some encounters with Orions in the past. It was said that no man could resist their charms, be he Romulan, Vulcan, or human. Pike knew from first-hand experience that this was true. But what could a young Orion woman be doing on a Romulan ship?

"I'm Nero's lover," she said, as though reading his mind.

"Did he kidnap you or something, then?" Pike asked, watching as she pulled out of the folds of her robe – she wasn't clad in uniform as all the Romulans were – a canteen of what he hoped was water.

"I was born on this ship," she said. "It's a long story, and we've no time."

She raised the canteen to his lips, and Pike drank thirstily. Though he was soaked to the skin, it had done nothing for how parched his throat was.

"So you're going to help me escape, then?" he asked as soon as he'd downed the canteen's contents.

She shook her head. "There is no escape from the _Narada_ ," she said. "I tried a few times."

Pike nodded sympathetically. "You must hate Nero as much as I do, then?"

"No!" she exclaimed. "I love Nero. My greatest desire is to please him. But his men – " She shuddered. "I give myself to Nero willingly. But I have no desire to be raped. You should see the way some of them look at me. No, there is no escape."

"Then why is our time limited?" Pike asked, as she took a salve out from her robes and began doctoring a cut on his forehead.

"Because he would be furious if she found out I was helping you," she said, dabbing away at the wound. Only then did Pike notice that she was glancing about frantically as she did so, her long dark hair whipping his face every time she turned to look over her shoulder. "I'd be exiled – or worse."

She returned the canteen and the salve back to her robe and turned to go, but Pike was not quite finished yet.

"Why are you helping me, then?" he asked. "What is the end goal here, if not to set me free?"

She turned back around, nailing him with eyes the color of the Pacific Ocean, making him long for San Francisco again. Strange how he never thought he'd actually want to be back on Earth while in space, but there _were_ some exciting aspects of the planet he'd never truly taken the time to appreciate.

"There is _some_ compassion aboard this ship, Captain Pike," she said. "I can't change your fate, but I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible until – "

"YOU CONNIVING HARLOT!"

Eyes wide, she whirled and Pike stretched as far off of his prison as possible to see Nero's second-in-command striding toward them.

The Orion girl fell to her knees, pleading with him. "Ayel, I swear, I meant no harm, I just – "

"Have you forgotten who this man is?" Ayel demanded. "Have you forgotten all that he stands for? He is of the Federation! Do you remember what they did?" He grabbed her by the hair, and she cried out in pain. "Do you remember nothing Captain Nero has told you of your father? Of his death?"

He began to drag her out by the hair, shouting, "We will see what the captain has to do with you about this!"

The Orion's screams filled the chamber until the door slammed shut, leaving Pike, once again, alone. He had gained and lost an ally on this ship all within the course of five minutes, and hadn't even bothered to learn her name.


	14. Altered Timeline

**Chapter Fourteen: In which there is a LOT of unspoken communication and Vulcan nerve-pinching.**

 **Come on, people. I won't beg. PLEEEEEAAAASSSE review? Crud. I just begged. I will now go off and preserve what little dignity I have left.**

 **I own only my OCs. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Have you confirmed that Nero is headed for Earth?" Spock asked. Camille found herself gritting her teeth. She didn't understand this man, and in light of his recent loss, she wanted to be more sympathetic toward him. However, when one didn't express a lot of need for sympathy, it was rather hard to give it.

She didn't dislike Spock as much as Jim did. He just frustrated her.

"Their trajectory suggests no other destination, Captain," Uhura said. Camille made note of the lack of warmth that suddenly passed between the pair of them. She eyed Karina and got a shrug. Apparently the ship-wide cold-shoulder extended to the girlfriend, as well.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Spock said, walking toward the chair.

"Well, of course Earth is his target!" Camille pointed out less than tactfully, ignoring the look Bones sent her. "After Vulcan, what would make the most sense to destroy? The Federation planets, right?"

"And thank _you_ , Lieutenant," Spock replied, clearly indicating that her opinion was not required. Camille groaned inwardly. Why was she even here if he refused to listen?

"Earth may be his next stop," Jim said from his place in the captain's chair, "but we have to assume every Federation planet's a target."

"Out of the chair," Spock ordered, irritation showing through his completely collected façade. Karina let out a snort, earning a withering gaze from their stoic captain.

Camille couldn't help but think that Jim looked as though he should be in a captain's chair. He was just so natural in the seat. However, he begrudgingly rose and gave it to Spock, accepting his designated spot as first officer.

Considering the day's events, Camille couldn't decide whether that spot was deserved or not.

"It does make sense, though," Karina put in. "He obviously has some sort of beef with the Federation. The question is: What?"

"Vell, if ze Federation is ze target, vy didn't zey destroy us?" Chekov asked from down at the helm.

"We were a relatively easy target for destruction, considering their superior weapons," Camille added. They both received a frown from Karina, having all but decimated her point. Chekov didn't notice, having his back turned to her, but Camille gave her a frown in return. _Grow up_ , she mouthed, and Karina gave a grudging nod. Point taken.

"Why would they?" Sulu asked, frowning. He had a cut on his forehead from the incident on Vulcan, and was still clearly agitated about something. "Why waste a weapon? We obviously weren't a threat!"

"That is not it," Spock said, continuing his walk around the bridge. Camille wondered vaguely why it was such a big deal that Jim get out of the chair if Spock wasn't even planning on using it. "He said he wanted me to see something, the destruction of my home planet."

"How the hell did they do that, by the way?" Bones asked, moving from his position beside Camille and stepping out, as though signaling he was now part of this conversation whether Spock liked it or not. Up until now, he'd been sitting off to the side, his face contorted in thought. "Where do the Romulans get that kind of weaponry?"

Though he didn't say it, Camille knew he was thinking, _And if that's the case, why did they need to attack us to steal our weapons a year and a half ago?_

"The engineering comprehension necessary to artificially create a black hole may suggest an answer," Spock informed him. Turning back from his spot in front of the viewer to face the crew, he said, "Such technology could theoretically be manipulated to create a tunnel through space time."

"What?" Karina whispered loudly, then clapped a hand to her mouth as Jim, Camille, Sulu, and Chekov turned around and gave her a look. Bones, however, was too busy focusing on Spock to do his normal dad-thing.

"Dammit, man, I'm a doctor, not a physicist. Are you actually suggesting they're from the _future_?" Bones demanded, skepticism written all over his face.

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth," Spock quipped.

"How poetic," Bones growled, rolling his eyes.

Spock seemed unperturbed, but Camille knew better. His human eyes gave him away. He was just as shocked by the revelation as Bones was.

"Then what would an angry future Romulan want with Captain Pike?" Jim asked, bringing the conversation back to its point.

"True. If his problem was with you, Captain, he could have just requested you to come on the shuttle," Camille postulated.

"Logically, that does make the most sense," Karina said, putting a bit too much emphasis on the "logically" part. "However…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at Sulu, who seemed to pick up on what she meant.

"As Captain, he does have knowledge of Starfleet's defenses," he voiced for her.

"What we need to do is catch up to that ship, disable it, take it over, and get Pike back," Jim said, his voice signaling that the decision was final. Camille agreed with him wholeheartedly, but Karina thought that maybe that stint sitting in the Captain's chair had gone to his head a bit.

"We are technologically outmatched in every way," Spock countered. "A rescue attempt would be illogical."

"Nero's ship would have to drop out of varp for us to owertake zem," Chekov pointed out.

Karina unconsciously noticed herself making a motion across her throat, as though she were trying to send vibes across the bridge, something along the lines of _Pavel, shush!_ He had turned back to look at Jim and noticed her gestures. Shrugging as if to say, _What do you expect me to do?_ he turned back to the helm.

"Then what about assigning Engineering crews to try and boost our warp yield?" Jim asked, clearly frustrated and looking for a way around this. Karina knew she would hear words about "your _friend_ being less than helpful" later.

"We could do that," Juliet said. "Captain, I could easily – "

"Remaining power and crew are being used to repair radiation leaks on the lower decks – "

"Okay! All right," Jim said, just wanting Spock to shut up and listen. Camille glared at Spock, who just kept on talking.

" – and damage to subspace communications without which we cannot contact Starfleet."

"There's got to be some way!"

"We must gather with the rest of Starfleet," Spock commanded, his voice finally taking on the authority due to a captain's, "to balance the terms of the next engagement."

"There won't _be_ a next engagement!" Jim growled. "By the time we've gathered, it'll be too late."

"Captain," Camille said, her words respectful but her tone decidedly not, "if he does intend to destroy Earth, he's not going to just wait around to go after the Federation ships still out here. He'll want to be sure we have nowhere to return to. That's how war works. When those doing battle find out their homes have been attacked, their families murdered, they tend to lose morale and fight lousy." _Like what has clearly happened to you_ , she thought.

Catching how her tone had clearly irritated Spock, Bones put a hand on her shoulder. "Cam," he muttered, but she shrugged him off. Any trace of what had happened between them nearly an hour before was forgotten.

"But you say he's from the future, knows what's going to happen?" Jim asked, going off of her point. "Then the logical thing is to be unpredictable."

"You're assuming that Nero knows how events are predicted to unfold," Spock countered, perhaps a bit perturbed by the situation but definitely not by Jim. "The contrary, Nero's very presence has altered the flow of history, beginning with the attack on the _USS Kelvin_ , culminating in the events of today thereby creating an entire new chain of incidents that cannot be anticipated by either party."

 _He doesn't mean…_ Karina thought.

"An alternate reality." Uhura, who had risen from her seat, gave voice to what they were all thinking. Everyone appeared to take that in in different ways, but a general look of horror swept over the bridge.

Spock allowed himself to look at her, finally. Then he turned back to Jim, a look of smug triumph on his face. "Precisely." He went to take his seat in the chair, continuing to dialogue. "Whatever our lives might have been if the time continuum was disrupted, our destinies have changed."

Karina and Camille glanced at each other, eyes wide. Camille looked at Bones, wondering just how different her destiny had become. Karina, meanwhile, was looking back and forth from Camille and Bones, to Jim, to Chekov, wondering the exact same thing. How much, exactly, had the Romulans affected?

Karina vaguely wondered if she even existed in that other reality, whether her parents were still alive, if she was still in Starfleet, if she even knew as many languages as she did. Camille wondered if alternate-Cam had had the guts to quit the military and join Starfleet, or if she'd stayed to please her father. With a jolt she realized if alternate-Cam hadn't joined Starfleet, she was probably dead from the lung condition, and long since.

Both girls were jarred out of their reverie by Spock.

"Mr. Sulu," he said, taking a seat in the Captain's chair, "plot a course for Laurentian system, warp factor 3."

"Spock, don't do that," Jim "advised," which was simply a mild way of saying commanded. "Running back to the rest of the fleet for a – a confab – is a massive waste of time!"

"These are the orders issued by Captain Pike when he left the ship," Spock spoke over him.

"But where is he now?" Camille demanded, looking in shock at Karina, who was, for once keeping her mouth shut.

"He also ordered us to go back and get him," Jim growled, his voice growing more and more desperate. "Spock, you are Captain now! You have to make – "

"I am aware of my responsibilities, Mr. Kirk," Spock replied suavely. But Sulu, in front of him, shot a worried look Chekov's way. The man was clearly barely keeping himself under control. And no one wanted to see him lose it.

Jim, however, appeared to be past caring.

"Every second we waste, Nero's getting closer to his next target!"

"That is correct, and why I am instructing you to accept the fact that I alone am in command – "

"I will not allow us to go backwards – " Jim cried, his voice having escalated into a shout at this point.

"Jim, he's the captain!" Bones cut in, to which Camille shot at him, "He's got a point, Bones!"

" – away from the problem, instead of hunting Nero down!"

"Jim, let it go!" Karina pleaded, her shoulders tense with apprehension, wishing he would just shut up, but she was a bit too late.

Spock rose. "Security, escort him out."

The pair of them stared each other down. It took Camille a moment to figure out that she was considered part of security. Suddenly a plan began to form itself in her mind. The likelihood that it would succeed was slim, but the odds had gone in their favor in the past…

Jim and Spock stared each other down until Camille and a pair of male security officers took hold of him and began to escort him off the bridge. He gave her a look of betrayal, but the slightest change of expression from her revealed the plan. Jim nodded.

Her phaser supposedly trained on Jim, Camille waited until they were off the Captain's platform before sinking her knee into one of her compatriot's backsides, sending him reeling. Jim, meanwhile, brought his elbow into the other's stomach and went for his phaser.

"Hey!" the guy yelled, before receiving another unexpected blow.

The one in front of Camille recovered and went for her, grabbing her by the waist and turning her around, and she sent an elbow to his forehead. He groaned and she stepped on his toe, making him release his grip on her. Vaguely in the distance she heard Bones bark, "Enough, Jim!" and she thought Karina was full-on screaming, "Cam, stop!" She couldn't tell how Jim was doing, but as it turned out she didn't have time to do so.

Apparently the odds weren't in their favor this time. A blunt pain shot through her neck, and she just had time to think _Vulcan nerve pinch_ before she lost consciousness for the second time that day.

* * *

Karina stood there, eyes wide, as Spock dug both sets of forefingers into Jim's neck and then Cam's. She gripped the side of her chair to keep from losing her balance. Bones was standing there, glued to the spot, his eyes focused on Camille's crumpled form on the floor of the bridge.

"Get them off this ship," Spock growled at the security officers, who were rubbing various sore spots on their bodies.

Though it was ridiculous, Karina couldn't help but feel proud of the licks Jim and Camille had gotten in on them. No doubt they'd underestimated her diminutive friend and her ability to fight back.

Unfortunately, Camille and Jim had also underestimated Spock.

One of the officers grabbed Jim under his arms and began dragging him off the bridge, while the other practically slung Camille over his shoulder and began to follow. That was too much for Bones. He took a step forward, about to lunge at the man and demand that he get his hands off her, when Karina flew to his side.

"Bones, no!" she whispered urgently, her hands like claws in his arm. He tore his eyes from the security guy disappearing with Camille in tow and looked down at Karina, who was pleading with him with her eyes.

The hard anger and fear in his eyes softened. He would go with Jim and Camille to the ends of the earth with only mild complaining, but he couldn't just abandon the kid. She was looking to him to provide some stability, and it occurred to Bones that that was the whole reason she'd been so desperate to be on the _Enterprise_ in the first place. They were her rock, the three of them, and if he threw himself into the same boat as Jim and Camille he was tearing the foundation out from underneath her.

Setting his face in what he hoped was a reassuring expression, he nodded, and she relaxed, going back to her seat.

Bones forced himself to calm down. Jim and Camille could take care of themselves. They'd been in worse predicaments than being marooned on a foreign planet before, right?

No, no they hadn't.

Spock walked back up and took his seat in the captain's chair. So close. Bones was very tempted to wrap his hands around the man's Vulcan neck, but refrained, once again forcing himself to think of Karina. This situation would not improve if he murdered the captain. For one thing, he'd be court-martialed and condemned to death. For another, they'd have no blasted captain.

Turning to Sulu and Chekov, who'd both risen from their seats when the scuffle had broken out, Spock raised an eyebrow. "I believe my instructions were quite clear, Mr. Sulu," he said.

Reluctantly, Sulu turned back to his post and laid the course in.

"Mr. Chekov?" Spock very strongly implied.

Chekov glanced up at Karina's post. She still looked like the rug had just been ripped out from underneath her. Rather like she'd looked back in the transporter room when the system had failed to save Spock's mother.

However, as long as people were getting marooned right and left here, Chekov figured getting himself added to that list wasn't going to help anyone involved.

So he simply nodded, said, "Aye, Keptin," and returned to his post.


	15. Rough Landing

**In which Jim and Camille are marooned and meet a blast from...well, the future. Guess that phrase doesn't really work. Either way, we're on Delta Vega, ladies and gents!**

 **Sorry for the delay in posting. My Mondays are getting more and more hectic as the year goes on. Also, thanks for all of the reviews! You are, all of you, greatly appreciated! :)**

 **Read, review, enjoy - hopefully quite a bit!**

 **I only own my OCs.**

* * *

Camille awoke just before the – well, whatever she was in – slammed into – well, wherever Spock had sent her. For a moment, panic set in as she realized she was alone on a distant, unknown planet, but a groaning behind her made her sigh in relief.

"Jim!" she gasped, slightly out of breath.

"Cam," he moaned, noticing her predicament. "How's your lungs?"

She breathed slowly in and out. "Just give me a few minutes. I'll be fine."

Camille surveyed her surroundings. The pod seemed to have landed on its side. Jim was facing up, but she was downward, back-to-back with him, dangling just slightly. The discomfort made her dislike of Spock even more intense, but when she thought about it, what else was the man supposed to do? Jim had probably been this close to staging a mutiny, and he had to maintain control of his ship somehow.

Well, short of listening to them in the first place.

When she'd finally regained her breath, Jim pressed the comm. "Computer, where are we?"

The automated female voice announced their fate. _"Location, Delta Vega. Class M planet. Unsafe."_

A bandage flew past her, brushing her face, and Camille realized Jim had undressed his mangled hand. A lot of good that would do him in the long run, she thought.

 _"There is a Starfleet outpost 14 kilometers to the northwest. Remain in your pod until retrieved by Starfleet authorities."_

"You gotta be kidding me," Jim muttered.

They sat there for a few short moments.

"We should probably listen to that thing," Camille said, her voice completely neutral.

"Yep. We should," Jim replied.

"Are we going to?"

"Absolutely not."

A rush of cold air blew into the pod as Jim opened the door. "There's a pack under your seat," he said, unstrapping himself. "At least Spock was generous enough to provide us with _that_."

Camille's pack had rolled out from under the seat, but she could still see it. "A paragon of virtue, that one," she muttered, unstrapping herself and writhing around until she maintained hold of it, just floating at the bottom of the pod.

Jim was already out of the pod, standing on top. Camille slung her pack onto her shoulders and climbed on top of his seat, accepting the hand he offered to pull her out. The air was even more freezing outside the pod than it was inside, and she blinked at the stark white wasteland in front of her.

However, as her vision cleared, it became apparent that it was not a vast horizon she saw, but rather a sheer ice face. They'd cleaved a hole in the planet's surface when they'd landed. Camille eyed the wall with distaste.

"We have to _climb_ this thing?" she asked.

"Apparently," Jim said, then his face took on a look of concern. "That's going to be okay, right? I mean, you aren't going to have problems…with, you know, breathing?"

She leveled him with a glare. "Jim, I have the remnants of a lung problem caused by morphine addiction and smoke exposure. I'm not a flipping asthmatic."

And with that she started scaling the wall, Jim behind her, muttering, "Ouch."

Within a minute, they had both pulled themselves over the side, Camille barely out of breath but Jim breathing like a winded rhinoceros. They surveyed the land around them, and it was, in fact, a vast white barren wasteland, just as she'd imagined it to be when she'd been temporarily blinded. Camille felt her heart sink, and her mood wasn't improved by Jim's windmill status over on the opposite side.

"Oh, for goodness' sake, work out," Camille growled.

"Once again, ouch," Jim said, turning to look at her. "What is up with you, Cam?"

"What's up with me?" she demanded. "We're marooned on a flipping…tundra planet, no hope of escape, and our own planet is probably about to be destroyed purely because that, that…Vulcan _terrorist_ wouldn't listen to you! I don't know about you, James, but I find that sufficient enough reason to be freaked out! And if that wasn't enough – "

Her words cut off, and she clapped a hand to her mouth as though she could shove them back in.

Jim glanced around, just to make sure no alien creatures were in the general vicinity about to sneak up on them. Once he was sure the perimeter was clear, he approached her, his voice gentle.

"What else is there, Cam?" he asked. "Not that I don't want to be ticked off at Spock with you, but the way I see it, we've got plenty of time for that. Why else are you freaking out?"

She looked up at him, and the tears began to rise in her eyes. Normally, Jim wasn't all that good at comforting crying people – unless it was Karina, but the way he saw it, that was slightly different. Camille had always struck him as one stronger than himself, and the sight of her in tears was enough to sufficiently weird him out.

But this time he could read everything written all over her face. She was thinking about Bones.

Jim pulled her into a hug, rubbing her arms up and down to make sure she stayed warm. Her tears were sort of freezing on her face, and now that he thought about it, he was shivering to the bone as well. He really hoped Spock had had the decency to insist some parkas be put in that bag.

"I was so close, Jim," she whispered. "So close."

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this, Cam," he said.

She shook her head. "No, it was my choice. And I'd do it again, because you're _right._ So now we're stuck here on this planet, our families are about to die on Earth, and I never even got to – " Her voice choked off, and Jim held her at arms-length, looking into her eyes.

"Hey, Cam," he said. "It's gonna be okay. But right now, I need you to keep your head on, all right? We need to be on guard if we're going to survive and find that Starfleet outpost."

She nodded and bent down to open her pack. Jim, meanwhile, turned around and surveyed their surroundings. Absolutely nothing but barren ice and rock, as far as he could see. And did he have any idea which way was northwest of here? No, no he did not. He wasn't a navigator. He was made for command. But what he wouldn't give for some sort of navigational system.

"Good news," Camille said, jarring him out of his planning. "We have parkas."

They both hurried to put theirs on, then stood up and looked at the world around them.

"How are you with directions?" Jim asked.

"If you're asking do I get lost, no, but that's usually when I have landmarks to go by," she said grimly.

Jim peered off into the distance. Not that it was easy to spot when everything else was gray and white, but a storm was looming on the horizon, threatening to envelop them in blankets of snow and ice in a few hours' time.

"That looks promising," Camille muttered. "So, do we soldier on with the packs, or…?"

Jim looked back at her. Camille Osbourne was not the most deferent of women, yet here she was, looking to him to give the command. Briefly he wondered if this in any way resembled what it felt like to be a captain. Thinking of his father, he was sure it did.

"They'll only slow us down," he told her. "We go unpacked."

Camille nodded, knowing that the risk of going on without supplies was so much greater than being weighed down, but it would get them where they wanted to be faster. If they knew where they were going.

"Any idea which way we should…?" Jim asked, figuring he may as well make this an equal partnership from the get-go.

Camille stood up and looked about her as though trying to get a feel for her surroundings. Briefly, she wished they had Chekov with them, then rolled her eyes. Just because the kid was good with starship navigations, meant nothing about how he would be on the ground. Right?

Camille wasn't the most intuitive of people. She relied on what she could sense right here and now. But this time, she took a deep breath and tried to feel the environment. Jim watched her for a moment, mesmerized. _Is that really…_

"Nope," she said. "I got nothing. A general…that-way direction?"

Jim shrugged and led on. "Whatever you say, boss."

Camille grinned. "Boss. I like that."

* * *

They'd been walking for a few hours. And eventually the lively camaraderie they managed to establish had diminished to just general Spock-hating. Camille had christened him the Robot of Starfleet, and Jim hadn't had the heart to tell her the name wasn't quite strong enough.

Jim, however, had scored something else from his pack – a communicator. It didn't have the ability to establish contact with the Enterprise, but it had pointed them in the general direction of the Starfleet Outpost.

Until a blizzard had come upon them, turning them around rather hopelessly.

Camille cursed Spock's name to the wind as they attempted to re-navigate their way around, but it was entirely pointless. No amount of searching could turn them in the right direction when they hadn't even known what it was in the first place. Jim, meanwhile had a different way of dealing with his frustration – ranting into the communicator. Eventually, Camille stopped muttering profanities under her breath and just listened to Jim's griping.

"Stardate...2258.42. Or, uh…44…Whatever," Jim finally gave up on trying to accurately pinpoint the date. "Acting Captain Spock has marooned us on Delta Vega – "

Camille turned around and frowned off into the distance. Through the white shield obscuring her vision, she thought she saw a vague dark shape coming from behind them. At first she felt hopeful, thinking that perhaps it was someone from the Starfleet outpost sent to retrieve them, but then the distance became more apparent, and her stomach dropped. It was way too big to be a human being.

"Jim," she said, her tone warning. He didn't catch on at first.

" – in what I believe to be a violation of Security Protocol 49.09 governing the treatment of prisoners aboard a star…"

His voice trailed off as a keening rose off in the distance, coming from whatever creature was loping its way toward them at top speed. He glanced at Camille, finally seeing her alarmed face.

"Look," she told him, pointing at the shape in the distance.

He peered at it, his brow furrowed. Camille, however, had stood staring at the approaching form for far too long. Jim may have been the most intuitive of the pair of them, but right now Cam's gut feeling reflex was kicking in.

"Jim," she said, turning on her tail and taking off in the opposite direction. "Run. Just run!"

She didn't understand why she didn't hear his footsteps behind her. After a few seconds, she turned around and yelled, "JIM!"

At that instant the creature came into full view. It was large, furry, and slavering all over the icy ground. It looked something like a mix between a sloth and a deer, if she were to compare it to anything on Earth. Jim gave a cry of fear and finally moved.

"Come on!" Camille screamed, taking off once more. "Run!"

Chancing a look over her shoulder, Camille saw the creature gaining on Jim. It lunged at him.

" _Jim_!" she screamed. With her back turned to the direction she was going, Camille failed to notice the rock looming in her path. Her foot caught on it, and she went down, flat on her back.

Suddenly a larger, slightly more insect-like creature rocketed up out of the ice, grabbing this one in its mouth, shaking it about a bit and tossing it aside. For an instant, Camille thought they might be saved. Maybe, just maybe, this thing would be benevolent.

But then it turned to face them, and as Camille took in its bright red exoskeleton and abhorrent face, she felt her stomach drop once more. There was no way this thing was a vegetarian.

The thing roared in Jim's face, the threads of saliva it expelled barely missing him. Camille scrabbled to her feet by the time Jim got to her, and he grabbed her by the arm. Camille didn't bother with looking back. She didn't want to see what was going on back there, how much the beast was gaining on them. She just wanted to keep running as fast as she could, for all she was worth, and know that even if she died, she would have given her best effort to live.

But see, that was where it clinched. Because she really _didn't_ want to die.

Suddenly the ground dropped out from underneath her, and she felt a scream tear from her throat, along with Jim's.

They tumbled down the rocky slope, grunting in pain. Camille reached the bottom first, and looked up to the top of the hill to see the creature roaring down at them. It shook its head, irritated, and she felt a thrill of victory. They'd escaped!

But suddenly the ice on which the animal was standing gave way, and it came rolling down after them, roaring all the way.

Jim landed on the icy surface before Camille did, sliding onto the part that's darker hue clearly indicated it covered water. It looked extremely thin, but it held firm, not even cracking under their weight. Camille looked up at the beast, still falling toward them. She hauled Jim to his feet and they dodged out of the way just as it crashed into the ice, shattering the edge of the water's coating.

Camille spied a cave in the icy structure in front of them. The entrance was small, there was no way the creature could get inside. She pulled Jim after her, hearing him screaming behind her.

They made it into the cave, but apparently the opening wasn't as small as she'd thought. The thing crashed through, only chipping the top lip of the cave a bit. Camille bit back a groan of despair. They were trapped now.

Thinking to lose it by weaving in between a thin pair of stalactites, Camille dragged Jim that way. Sure enough, the creature's shoulders were caught in between the structures. However, there was one thing she hadn't counted on: the creature's alien anatomy.

A long, thin tongue shot out and wrapped itself around Jim's ankle, pulling him off of his feet. He screamed and kicked at the tongue as it pulled him closer and closer to its mouth.

Camille grabbed him under the arms and dug into the surface of the cave with all her might, but the ground was slick, and her feet slid out from under her as well. They were getting closer and closer to the animal's disgusting, slobbering maw. Jim and Camille both let out a bloodcurdling scream –

Suddenly a bright light appeared off to their side. Someone was in the cave!

They brandished a torch at the thing, which, to Jim and Camille's immense relief, apparently feared fire. It released his foot and backed away while their newfound companion continued to push it back. Giving one final roar, the behemoth bolted out of the cave and was gone.

Camille found herself still clinging to Jim, breathing hard, so glad to still be alive. Jim, meanwhile, was staring at the mysterious figure who now held the torch at his side, staring after the creature's retreating back.

The man turned around, and Camille was shocked to see that he was, in fact, an elderly Vulcan. She regretted the irritation she felt. After all, he had just saved their lives, but she honestly had thought they were done with Vulcans for a while.

He, however, only had eyes for Jim. It was starting to make Camille uncomfortable.

Then the Vulcan did the exact opposite thing she was expecting. "James T. Kirk."

"Excuse me?" Jim asked, nonplussed.

"How did you find me?"

Camille was thrown off. "U-us? Find _you_?"

Jim struggled to his feet. "W-w-whoa." He pulled Camille up to join him, then turned back to the stranger. "How do you know my name?"

The Vulcan stared at him and sighed. "I have been, and always shall be, your friend."

Camille looked back and forth from Jim to the Vulcan, thoroughly confused. Jim, meanwhile, laughed, rather uncomfortable with the whole thing. "Look, I – I don't know you."

"I am Spock."

Camille and Jim stood there for a few minutes, taking that in. Could it really be? After all, the Romulans had come from the future. Was it reasonable that this man could have come from the future, that he and Jim were friends then?

They both knew exactly how to respond. Simultaneously, Jim and Camille said,

"Bull-."

* * *

The three of them had passed the half hour since the Vulcan had rescued them in relative silence. It was not okay. Camille thought she was going to go crazy if someone didn't say something soon. Jim, however, just sat there staring at the stranger who claimed to be Spock. For once, the man had shut up, just the one time Camille didn't want him to.

Seated on the floor, leaned up against Jim for support, Camille looked from him to Spock Prime – as she'd come to call him – across the fire, which he'd hastily built after their arrival. Finally, she could stand it no longer. Camille opened her mouth to say something.

But Spock Prime beat her to it.

"It is remarkably pleasing to see you again, old friend," he told Jim, only serving to even more thoroughly perplex the man. "Especially after the events of today."

Jim stood, gesturing to himself and Camille. "Sir, I appreciate what you did for us today, but if you were Spock, you'd know we're not friends. At all. You hate me. You marooned me here for mutiny."

A surprising amount of shock – for a Vulcan – registered on Spock's face. "Mutiny?"

"Yes."

"Though in our defense, you did deserve it," Camille put in.

As per usual, Spock Prime ignored her. "You are not the captain?" he asked. Camille realized that what she'd mistaken for offense to be simply surprise.

Jim stood there, staring at the man for a moment, then gave a small, mirthless laugh. "No. No, you're the captain. Pike was taken hostage."

Spock appeared to take that in.

"Yeah, we're not pleased about the arrangement either," Camille told him. "Hence, why we're here."

"By Nero," Spock said, once again not appearing to acknowledge her presence.

Jim, who'd turned away from the fire, slowly turned back around. Camille noticed that her jaw had dropped and slowly prised it back shut. Jim, however, made no such effort. Now fully intrigued by this strange man claiming to be Spock, he locked eyes with him.

"What do you know about him?"

Spock stared into the fire. "He is a particularly troubled Romulan."

"We hadn't noticed," Camille muttered.

"Cam," Jim cautioned.

Spock rose from his seat on a rock and grabbed Camille, for the first time showing that he knew she existed, and pulled her to her feet. It wasn't a particularly hostile nor gentle gesture, just the logical thing to do, she guessed, though she couldn't imagine why.

He put her hand on Jim's head, then attempted to do the same with his own.

"If you'll allow me," he said.

Jim, naturally pulled away, and Camille removed her hand from his head.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Jim asked Spock Prime.

"Our minds, one and together," Spock told them.

Reluctantly, still a bit wigged out, the humans allowed Spock to touch the tips of his fingers to their foreheads, his thumbs on their cheeks.

"One-hundred-twenty-nine years from now," Spock began, "a star will explode and threaten to destroy the galaxy."

Suddenly everything went back. Camille felt as though she were flying along at warp speed, only without a ship. Spock's voice took on an echoey quality.

"That is where I'm from, Jim, the future."

Camille tried to not feel too irritated that he still apparently only cared about Jim. Did this Spock even know her name? Considering that she was probably dead by then in his future, no, probably not.

They continued to fly along, rocketing through a belt of asteroids, only to come to a screeching halt in front of a star.

"A star went supernova, consuming everything in its path."

The star did indeed explode. They flew along backwards just out of its reach as it destroyed all the asteroids as though they were made of Styrofoam.

"I promised the Romulans that I would save their planet."

An image of a council of Vulcans and Romulans. One of them had his back turned toward Camille, and he turned around. It was Spock. Now they were looking at a ship with the greatest technological advancement Camille had ever seen. What Juliet wouldn't do to get her hands on that thing – or Sulu, for that matter.

"We outfitted our fastest ship."

They were now inside the ship. Vulcans dressed in the uniform of their Science Academy walked about inside, inspecting a red blob in the middle that Camille gasped when she recognized it. It was red matter, what one would use to create a black hole. The only place you could get technology like that was – the future. Of course.

"Using red matter, I would create a black hole, which would absorb the exploding star."

They switched into the vast expanses of space, as the Vulcan ship flew along, propelled by some kind of rotator. Camille couldn't quite figure out what it was, exactly. She was better at identifying weapons than ship parts.

"I was en route, when the unthinkable happened. The supernova destroyed Romulus."

Camille gasped as the planet burned up, breaking apart like a pill dropped into water. Whether Jim reacted at all, she couldn't tell, as it was as if she were the only one there, with Spock's voice merely narrating. She watched as the exact events he described unfolded before her very eyes.

"I had little time. I had to extract the red matter and shoot it into the supernova."

As Spock's ship wheeled away, the vial of red matter launched itself into the exploding star, forming the very black hole Spock had described and absorbing everything in its path, save for the ship. With a jolt, Camille realized that was probably the very thing that had happened to Vulcan. She attempted to not be sick.

"As I began my return trip, I was intercepted. He called himself Nero, the last of the Romulan Empire."

Camille's stomach swooped once more as how Spock ended up in on this forsaken planet became apparent. Her theory was proven right by his next statement.

"In my attempt to escape, both of us were pulled into the black hole. Nero went through first. He was the first to arrive."

The destruction of the Kelvin played across their eyes. Camille wished she could see Jim's reaction, and yet knew it would tug at her heart in a way she wasn't sure she was emotionally prepared for. The emotional transference was already causing her to feel Spock's fear. One look at Jim's face after seeing his father's destruction would be enough to send her over the edge.

"Nero and his crew spent the next 25 years awaiting my arrival. But what was years for Nero was only seconds for me. I went through the back hole. Nero was waiting for me."

They were now looking over Spock's shoulder, through his viewer, at the immense black spikes of Nero's ship looming in front of them. Once again, Camille felt terror grip her. Suddenly she realized what this indicated: Spock _did_ have feelings!

Now Spock walked down the gangway to a host of Romulans awaiting his arrival. The elderly Vulcan looked to be no match for the gaggle of black-clad figures standing at the bottom of the plank. Camille felt a surge of fear for him, this time entirely her own.

"He held me responsible for the loss of his world. He captured my vessel and spared my life, for one reason."

Camille watched Nero's face and saw the hatred written all over it. A sleepless malice that would not quiet, no matter how much she willed it to.

"So that I would know his pain."

Now they found themselves on the frozen surface of Delta Vega. Spock stood stock-still, watching in horror, or the Vulcan equivalent thereof, as the black hole consumed his home planet, visible even from this distance.

"He beamed me here to observe his vengeance. As he was helpless to save his planet, I would be helpless to save mine."

His ultimate sorrow came crashing over Camille, and she was only vaguely aware of falling to her knees sobbing. Her connection with Spock was broken, and she was suddenly back in the cave. Through her tears, she looked up at the old man and Jim. His hand was still plastered to Jim's face, and though his face was just as matter-of-fact as ever, his voice trembled as he said, "Billions of lives lost, because of me, Jim. Because I failed."

Camille wondered if he knew his mother was among them. Knowing the connection she had with her own mother and considering the human blood running in Spock's veins, she guessed he had a feeling.

He released Jim, and though he wasn't quite as far gone as she had been, tears still rolled down Jim's cheeks as he was zapped back to the present. Jim took in several deep breaths, trying to gain control of himself.

"Forgive me. Emotional transference is an effect of the mind meld," Spock told him, once again completely logical.

Camille had managed to regain a hold on her emotions and, taking a few shuddering breaths, she rose, feeling consistently ignored by Spock and Jim and not quite liking it.

Jim sounded like he was about to retch. He stumbled away from them, leaning up against the wall of the cave until he could finally speak.

"So you do feel," were the words he settled on.

"Yes," Spock said.

"Going back in time, you changed all our lives," Jim commented, as thought that were just now occurring to him. Camille tried to register that once more.

"Was I in Starfleet?" Camille asked, unable to contain herself any longer. She had to know.

Spock looked her up and down, as though just now noticing her presence. _Finally_.

"I do not remember your face," he said. "What is your name?"

"Camille Osbourne," she said, swallowing hard. "Lieutenant."

He frowned. "I cannot recall your name. Though are you perhaps related to the General Conrad Osbourne of MACO?"

She nodded. "His daughter."

"Ah," Spock nodded, as though keeping some information from her. Camille took all the knowledge she needed from that one. Either she didn't exist in Spock's world, or he simply didn't know. She wouldn't press the matter further.

"Jim," Spock said, once again ignoring her. "We must go. There is a Starfleet outpost not far from here."

Spock began heading toward the cave's entrance. Jim turned to Camille and she shrugged. It didn't seem there was much else they could do but follow the old geezer. She went to go after him, but Jim's voice stopped her cold.

"Wait," he said, and Spock turned to face him. "Where you came from…did I know my father?"

Camille wasn't necessarily a crier. But she squeezed her eyes shut at the quietness of Jim's voice. It was so unlike him, and so vulnerable. She'd always liked to believe that Jim was the strong one of the pair of them – without knowing that he felt the same way about her.

Spock nodded. Camille wondered if he knew about Jim's father's death on the _Kelvin_. "Yes," he said. "You often spoke of him as being your inspiration for joining Starfleet. He proudly lived to see you become Captain of the _Enterprise_."

At that one, Camille's eyes widened, and she couldn't help herself. She whirled to face Jim, who appeared simultaneously skeptical and shocked.

"Captain?" he asked, dubious.

"A ship we must return you to as soon as possible," Spock said, back to business as usual. He exited the cave, and Camille stood there, staring at Jim, who was looking as though he was trying to hold it together.

"Hey," she said, her mothering instincts taking over and going to him. "You okay?"

He looked at her. "I knew my father, Cam. I'm _captain_."

She attempted to lighten the situation. "Good lord. Who _is_ that James T. Kirk?"

He gave her a small smile that disappeared as quickly as it had turned up. "Huh. Who knows."

They followed Spock out of the cave, to whatever end.


	16. Tension on the Bridge

**In which Bones and Karina express their extreme dislike of Spock's disciplinary policies, Chekov potentially risks angering the Acting Captain, and Camille takes a bit of a tumble...again.**

 **Thanks for the reviews! Enjoy this chapter, you beautiful people!**

 **I own only my OCs.**

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the _Enterprise_ , all was business. It was almost as if a pair of crew members hadn't been kicked off of the ship, probably not to be heard from again for at least another month.

Almost.

But the tension coming from the general area of the communications station was telling. Karina had a talent for wearing her heart on her sleeve, and right now the tenseness of her shoulders and the short-yet-polite affirmatives she gave to Spock's orders were quite obvious. She was furious with the man. Of course, Spock seemed totally oblivious to the matter.

Sulu and Chekov, not blind to her wrath, eyed each other with what could almost be described as a fearful expression.

"Warp 3, sir," Sulu informed Spock, somehow successfully keeping the trepidation out of his voice.

"Course 1-5-1, mark 3. Laurentian system," Chekov added, casting a weary glance at Karina's rigid form.

"Thank you, gentlemen," Spock said, seemingly unaware of the fact that his junior Communications officer was two inches away from committing the very act she'd all but begged Bones not to engage in earlier.

Bones had, in fact, exited the bridge to go back to medical about an hour ago, and no one had noticed his re-entry until he spoke up. "You wanted to see me," he said to Spock, his voice measured. Karina whirled, her shoulders automatically relaxing. She knew that it was taking a lot of effort for Bones to sound as neutral as he did.

It was almost as if her rock had returned.

"Yes, Doctor," Spock said, rising. "If you would join us as well, Ensign Bartowski."

Bones eyed her, as if wondering whether it was a good idea. Chekov and Sulu both tensed but didn't turn from their posts.

Karina rolled her eyes at the three of them. Honestly, did they think she couldn't handle herself? And plus, Bones had an effect on her. It was like she automatically behaved better when the man was around. It was probably his "dad" vibe. She went to stand by Bones.

Spock approached them and then began walking around the bridge, leading them along.

"I am aware that James Kirk and Camille Osbourne are friends of yours," he began, and Karina noticed Bones' jaw just barely clench at the mention of Camille's name.

"I recognize that supporting me as you did must have been difficult," Spock continued.

"Is that a thank-you?" Bones asked, now unable to keep the disdain out of his voice. It was there, barely, at the faintest edges thereof, but there.

Karina, too, wondered vaguely where Spock was going with this. "It didn't seem there was much else we could do, Captain," she said, and Spock eyed her as though judging her sincerity. She supposed she'd brought that on herself.

"I am simply acknowledging your difficulties," he told them.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Bones asked.

"I welcome it."

Karina took a sharp breath. Spock really had no idea what he was getting into. Bones could normally have tact, but when he decided to speak freely – and it didn't take much to get him there – someone was going to get burned.

"Do you?" Bones asked, already losing the formal tone. "Okay then. _Are you out of your Vulcan mind?"_

The man at least had the courtesy to lower his voice, but Spock appeared shocked nonetheless. He looked to her as though expecting an explanation, but she kept her face neutral. Mimicking his normal countenance, in a way.

"Are you making a logical choice, sending Kirk away? Probably. But the right one? You know, back home, we got a saying, 'If you're gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you don't leave your prize stallion in the stable.'"

"I might have to use that one," Karina muttered under her breath. Spock sent her a sharp look. "If I may also speak freely, Captain, I also agree with him. And fully support the use of that metaphor."

"A curious metaphor, however, Doctor and Ensign, as a stallion must first be broken before it can reach its full potential."

Karina should have known he'd have a comeback to that. She was sure her face showed her defiance, but didn't particularly care. They were too far away from any planet and in the middle of warp. If Spock wanted to maroon her, he'd have to wait a while.

Bones, meanwhile, could no longer contain himself. "You could at least _act_ like it was a hard decision!"

"I intend to assist in the effort to reestablish communication with Starfleet," Spock informed him, sending a glance Karina's way that clearly indicated he thought her efforts should be directed there as well. She begrudgingly had to admit he was right. "However, if crew morale is better served by my roaming the halls weeping, I will gladly defer to your medical expertise."

For a man who seemingly had no emotion, he sure had a lot of sass. The pair of them stared each other down for a moment, and Karina determined if a fight broke out, she'd go down with Bones.

But at that moment, Ambassador Sarek stepped off of the lift onto the bridge and Spock, not taking his eyes off Bones for the barest trace of a moment, said, "Excuse me."

As he wandered off to meet his father, Bones turned toward Karina, then went toward the lift himself, muttering, "Green-blooded hobgoblin."

"I might have to use that one, too," Karina whispered teasingly. "By the way, remind me to not tell Camille that you don't consider her a prize stallion, as well. Maybe just a show filly?"

Bones eyed her. "You're getting good at the horse metaphors, kid," he said. "Anyway, I didn't trust myself to bring her into it. I might have punched Spock in the face right then and there and not been much better off than her and Jim."

Karina shrugged. "Might have been entertaining, though. And immensely satisfying for all involved."

She hadn't noticed they were walking past Uhura's station at that moment, however, until she felt the icy stare on the back of her neck. Gulping, she sat down at her chair and muttered, "Any luck reestablishing contact?"

"No," Uhura said shortly. "However, I think the problem may be somewhere down in Engineering. Maybe in our main generator down there or something. Do you want to go tinker a bit? I already checked with Sp - with the captain."

Karina had never tinkered with anything before. Maybe she'd be good at it. And anything to get her away from the wrath of Uhura. "Sure, why not?"

As she went off the bridge, Chekov's eyes followed her. Sulu, meanwhile, was eyeing him knowingly. Chekov turned back, then almost jumped when he found Sulu staring at him. Realizing the action would look slightly guilty, he looked to Spock, perfectly distracted by his father, and asked, "Do you…?"

"Chekov," Sulu said. "We're in warp. There's nothing for you to lay in. Go. But try to get back before Stone Face notices you're gone, okay? You really don't want to get marooned on the nearest planet, do you?"

* * *

Karina had just boarded the lift when a blur of gold slid his way in between the doors. There was general chaos as the doors slammed shut and said blur, which she now recognized as Chekov, slammed into the other side of the lift.

"Wait, w – Pavel!" she exclaimed, slightly confused. She hit the button which pulled the lift to a halt. Whirling back around to face her friend, she saw him rubbing his arm where he'd hit the wall, a somewhat rueful expression on his face.

"What the heck are you doing here?" she asked. "Did Spock give you permission to be off of the bridge?"

He shrugged. "Incidentally… _nyet_."

Her look said she was anything but happy about this. "In case you haven't noticed, our 'captain' appears to be in the marooning mood today."

"Vich is vy I'm here," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I…just vanted to check on you. I mean, two of your friends just got marooned on Delta Wega. Hef you _heard_ about Delta Wega lately? Zere are some horror stories attached to zat place."

She narrowed her eyes. "And that last statement was supposed to _help_?"

He seemed to consider the sentence, then facepalmed. "Right. Sorry."

Seeing that he looked a little sheepish, probably felt a little ridiculous, and realizing that he'd only meant well, she softened the reaction a bit with a smile. "In answer to your question, I'm okay. Jim and Camille can take care of themselves. Although, yes, I have heard about Delta Vega."

Chekov eyed her. "And, in zat case, you're certain you're okay?"

She shrugged. "Eh. A hug might be nice."

He obliged, extremely willingly. Karina made sure it was a quick one, however. After she found herself sufficiently comforted, she reversed the lift to go back up to the bridge.

"Now, get back on the bridge, you little Russian punk," she said. "Two of my best friends got marooned today. I don't need another one of you to add to that statistic."

The lift doors opened, and he nodded. "Vatewer you say, Keptin."

"Better not let Spock hear you say that," she muttered under her breath as he exited.

As the lift descended downward, Karina leaned up against the side of the lift. She did appreciate the concern, but it had unearthed the emotions she'd managed to bury for the longest time. When Spock was around, it was easy to expose those raw feelings as anger, but in fact, they were nothing short of worry and fear for Jim and Camille, trapped on the vast wilderness of Delta Vega.

She'd studied up on Federation prison planets. That wasn't technically considered a prison planet, as there were no penal colonies established, but every few thousand parsecs or so, Starfleet established a planet where recalcitrant crew members could be sent until transportation to one of the colonies could be established.

Delta Vega was not a place anyone ever wanted to be sent.

She took a deep breath. James Tiberius Kirk and Camille Osbourne were perfectly capable adults. Cam, at least, could survive anything. What was the worst that could happen?

* * *

Outside the cave, the blizzard had continued to rage. Camille had kept one hand attached to Jim's arm while they were traveling, and both of them kept their hoods pulled down against the wind. Spock glanced behind him every once in a while to make sure they were still there.

Finally, after cresting over a snow-laden hill, a set of buildings stood out, stark and black against the white landscape.

"Do you think this snow has any properties that make it different from Earth's?" Camille asked, waving at the snow in front of her, attempting to clear a path. Unlike her slightly nerdier friend Karina, Camille had failed to read up on the prison planets.

Jim shrugged, but Spock answered. "Actually, due to the elements of the atmosphere, all of the precipitation of Delta Vega has the same effect that on Earth would be attributed to – "

Jim sneezed.

" – dust," Spock Prime finished.

Camille snorted and Jim glared at her, but Spock wasn't done.

"Actually, there are many different properties to this planet's geological and biological makeup. While it appears much the same as Earth's, the rocks are even harder, for example. The ice, more sturdy, unless suffering from a large impact. And the snow, being like dust, unless supported by the crust below it, has a tendency to – "

He didn't have time to finish that thought, however, because just at that moment, the snow bank Camille was standing on gave way and she fell, tumbling down the slope with a scream.

" – be less sturdy," Spock continued.

"CAM!" Jim shouted, racing down the slope itself. He couldn't see her anywhere. A sense of trepidation filled him, remembering the devastation avalanches could cause back on Earth, even when they had advanced technology preventing them. What would he tell Karina? What would he tell _Bones_?

Suddenly, just in front of him, Camille's arms popped through the snow, followed by her head. Her hood was knocked off, and snow glistened in her dark hair.

"Well," she said. "That was fun."

"Cam!" Jim breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her out of the snow. "I thought you were gone for a minute there! Bones would've killed – " His mouth snapped shut, as though he'd said something he shouldn't have, but she merely punched him in the shoulder.

"Damn right he would have," she growled. "Nice reflexes. You could have at least grabbed me!"

Spock Prime, descending after them, was calling. "Of course, the lesser density of the snow on this planet makes it easier to dig oneself out of after an avalanche of sorts. It is, therefore, less dangerous than on Earth, depending on how deep the victim is buried. However, the ice – "

Camille and Jim looked at each other and rolled their eyes as the trio made their way to the Starfleet outpost.


	17. Hardworking, Starved Starfleet Officers

**Chapter Sewenteen, Sir!**

 **Sorry. Kind of had to do that. In which we meet a certain very grumpy Scotsman, experiment with transwarp beaming, and have a bit of an adventure with some water turbines.**

 **Read, review, enjoy! Please. That's important.**

* * *

Jim shoved the door open. Camille and Spock made their way inside, peering down the corridor. It appeared this structure was made of metal entirely. With a slam, Jim managed to close the door against the wind, panting with the exertion of it.

As he came to stand by them, a shouting sound came down the corridor, echoing off the tin walls. Camille frowned. That was no language that she recognized. But at least it signified that this place wasn't completely unoccupied. There was at least some life here!

Jim removed his hood and stared down the hallway. "Hello!" he called.

Slowly a set of dim lights began to illumine the dark corridor, and a small figure appeared at the end. From this distance, anyone might have appeared smaller than usual, but Camille was sure it must be a – a child of some kind. What kind of organization had she joined here? Who marooned _children_ on a place like this?

But as he jogged toward them, it became quite obvious it wasn't a child, but rather a very small alien. Camille smiled a bit. She recognized his general genetic makeup from an alien life class she'd had to take, but wasn't quite sure which species he belonged to.

Apparently it was a speechless race, however. He had been wearing goggles, such as one would wear for Engineering, and removed them, looking slowly and deliberately from her, to Jim, to Spock. He inclined his head back toward where he'd come, and motioned for them to follow.

The little guy was cute, she had to admit, but Camille had learned enough by now to know that appearances were deceiving. For example, Karina didn't look like she knew how to handle a phaser – though that was beginning to change as she got older. Jim didn't look like he could be top of his class – didn't behave like it either. Bones didn't look like he was really a cinnamon roll under all of that gruff exterior – oh, whoever she was analyzing this for in her head understood.

"Can we trust him?" she asked Jim and Spock.

Jim shrugged, and Spock replied, "It would appear we have no choice."

They followed the small alien down the hallway, the lights slowly going off behind them as they passed, apparently triggered by motion sensors. Camille, slightly behind Jim and Spock, was shrouded in darkness for a few seconds before they turned a corner and came into a larger chamber-like area. It resembled the Engineering section of a starship, but for the obvious differences. Like being in a stationary structure.

It was then that Camille's eyes fell on the man sitting in a chair, in front of a desk. Well, laying splayed out as far as he could get was a better description. His feet were propped up on the desk, and he was tilted back dangerously far. Looking around, Camille couldn't find herself blaming him. It didn't look like there were many more comfortable places to sleep around here.

The alien walked up to him and slapped him on the knee.

"What?" he groaned, sitting up in the chair, then saw them standing there. His face hardened and he glared at them. Camille frowned. For whatever reason, they had managed to set off this guy's ire.

"You realize how unacceptable this is?" he growled at them, a Scottish accent permeating the words.

"Fascinating," Spock commented.

"What?" Jim asked, thoroughly perplexed.

"Okay, I'm sure you're just doing your job, but could you not have come a wee bit sooner?" the stranger demanded, not removing his feet from the desk, as though trying to make a point. Camille wasn't sure who he thought he was defying. The little alien merely stood next to him, staring at them.

"Six months I've been here," he continued on his tirade, "living off Starfleet protein nibs and the promise of a good meal!" He knocked a box off of the desk, and Camille glanced down at it – _Starfleet Protein Nibs._ She looked at Jim, who had a look of utter confusion on his face, and Spock, who was just calmly accepting these happenstances as though they were a common occurrence in his life.

"And I know e _xactly_ what's going on here, okay?" he went on, entirely petulant. "Punishment, isn't it? Ongoing. For something that was clearly an accident."

"Um, we actually have no idea what you're talking about," Camille put in, throwing him off guard a bit.

"You are Montgomery Scott," Spock commented, once again as if he were discussing the weather.

"You know him?" Jim asked, at the same time as Camille asked, "Wait, who?" Why should she know that name?

"Aye, that's me. You're in the right place. Unless there's another hardworking, equally starved Starfleet officer around."

"Me," the little alien said, speaking up for the first time. His human companion scowled and turned to him.

"Get aff! Shut up! You don't eat anything. You can eat, like, a bean," he said, making a gesture with his fingers to indicate just how tiny of a portion it was, "and you're done. I'm talking about food," he went on, turning back to them. "Real food."

Camille could have sworn she saw tears in the little one's eyes, and her mothering instinct came out. Yet for some odd reason she couldn't feel dislike toward this other human they'd found. Where did that name come from in her memory? She searched the darkest recesses. _Montgomery Scott…_

He rose from his seat and walked off. "But you're here now, so where is it?"

"You are, in fact, the Mr. Scott who postulated the theory of transwarp beaming," Spock inquired.

Camille's jaw dropped. "You mean you're Crazy Scott – "

A glare from him made her shut her mouth like a steel trap. They'd just started studying him in one of her weapons classes. The instructor had painted him as brilliant. Absolutely daft, but brilliant nonetheless. Hence the name Crazy Scott.

He'd taken another seat, which seemed a bit redundant as he'd just gotten up from the last one, though Camille supposed he didn't have much else to do for six months. If he'd been crazy before, she could only imagine what he was like now.

"Aye, that's what I'm talking about!" he exclaimed, spreading his hands. "How do you think I wound up here? I had a _little_ debate with my instructor on the issue of relativistic physics and how it relates to subspace travel. He seemed to think that the range of transporting something like a – a grapefruit, was limited to about a hundred miles. I told him I could not only beam a grapefruit from one planet to the adjacent planet to the adjacent planet in the same system – which is easy, by the way – "

Jim frowned once more, and Camille knew he was thinking of the same class she was.

" – I could do it with a life form. So," he lifted a tin cup of water, as though toasting them, "I tested it on Admiral Archer's prize beagle."

Camille's jaw dropped again.

"That's not a good look for ya, lassie," Scott informed her, and once again, she snapped it shut.

"I know that dog," Jim said, just slightly concerned. "What happened to it?"

Swallowing, Scott replied, "I'll tell you when it reappears. I don't know. I do feel guilty about that."

"You should," Camille muttered.

"What if I told you your transwarp theory was correct," Spock began, causing Camille, Jim, and Scott to all whirl and stare at him, "that it is indeed possible to beam onto a ship that is traveling at warp speed?"

Scott frowned. "I think if that equation had been discovered, I'd have heard about it."

"The reason you haven't heard of it, Mr. Scott," Spock informed him, "is because you haven't discovered it."

Now it was Scott's turn to lose control of his jaw.

"Huh. Not a good look for you," Camille quipped.

Scott ignored her and rose, staring at Spock. He sputtered a few times, then finally managed, "Are you from the future?"

"Yeah, he is," Camille said.

"We're not," Jim added.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Smart-Ass."

Scott's only comment was, "Well, that's brilliant! Do they still have sandwiches there?"

* * *

In the few minutes since they'd outlined their predicament to Mr. Scott, Camille had befriended the tiny little alien. He'd still only spoken a few words, but she'd found out his name was Keenser, he was a Royalna and he hadn't been marooned here because of his own actions, but had rather chosen to follow Scott. She got the feeling that the pair of them were attached at the hip. However, he'd seemed to develop an affinity for her, as well, seeing as he held her hand now as they followed Scott towards his shuttle craft.

Camille smirked. Whoever had marooned him here had clearly been a bit kinder than Spock.

"Well, she's a wee bit dodgy," he told them. "Shield emitters are" – he tapped on them with a hammer – "totally banjaxed, as well as a few other things."

He finished examining the open engine areas and turned to face them. Keenser let go of Camille's hand and went to stand by him.

"On youse go," Scott told them, motioning toward the hatch with the hammer. Spock had already made his way in that direction. They followed.

"So," Scott said from behind them, "the _Enterprise_ has had its maiden voyage, has it? She is one well-endowed lady. I'd like to get my hand on her ample nacelles if you'll pardon the engineering parlance."

If Camille had had anything in her mouth at that point, she might have choked on it. As it was, she only made some little noise that sounded like a mix of a hiccup and a lid popping off a jar.

"Oh, lighten up, Lassie," Scott said as he walked past her onto the shuttle.

Camille frowned after him and looked down at Keenser. "Is he always like this?" she asked.

Keenser shrugged and nodded, tossing the hammer Scott had handed him before boarding the ship. Camille rolled her eyes and followed him on board.

The pair of them went to stand by Jim, who was staring at the beaming pads. Camille frowned as Keenser clambered up onto one of the railings surrounded them. These things looked ancient. Hadn't Scott said this ship was, in his words, "a wee bit dodgy"? If Camille could guess what that even meant, she imagined it would mean "not in working condition." And if Spock's crazy notion even was true… how did he know it would work on evidently outdated technology like this?

"The thing is," Scott was saying to Spock, "even if I believed you, where you're from, what I've done, which, I don't, by the way" – he stood up and walked over to join Jim and Camille - "you're still talking about beaming aboard the _Enterprise_ while she's traveling faster than light without a proper receiving pad. Get off there!" he snapped at Keenser suddenly. "It's not a climbing frame."

Camille was rather close to getting defensive of her new friend here, when Keenser looked over at her and shook his head. Suddenly she understood. Apparently this was just how Mr. Scott rolled.

Jim went to lift the little alien down, and then handed him to Camille as he went after Scott.

"The notion of transwarp beaming," Scott continued, "is like trying to hit a bullet, with a smaller bullet, whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse. What's that?" he asked, his attention suddenly drawn by something Spock had entered into the transporter console.

"Your equation for achieving transwarp beaming."

Spock stood up to go stand by Camille and Keenser. Camille watched Scott's back as he appeared to consider the matter. "Get out of it," he muttered, sitting down and staring at the screen. Keenser left Camille's side, apparently fascinated by whatever was happening on the screen. Camille followed, and she, too, peered over Scott's shoulder.

Brilliant. Just as she'd been told.

Scott emitted a sound that was somewhere between a gasp and a scoff. "Imagine that. It never occurred to me to think of _space_ as the thing that was moving."

" _Space_ is moving?" Camille asked, dumbfounded.

"Evidently so," Scott told her.

"You're coming with us, right?"

Camille whirled at the sound of Jim's voice. He'd approached Spock Prime, his tone urgent and holding just the barest trace of trepidation. It had never crossed her mind that the Vulcan might not be joining them on board the _Enterprise._ Yet the look on his face told her everything she needed to know here.

"No, Jim. That is not my destiny."

"Your de – " Jim's voice trailed off as he contemplated the weight of that statement, and what it meant for them. "He…the other Spock is not going to believe me."

"We're already wanted for mutiny," Camille put in. "And now we've got an accomplice!"

"Leave me out of this," Scott muttered up at her.

"Too late. Sorry."

"Only you can explain what the hell's happened," Jim tried to go on, but Spock cut over him.

"Under no circumstances can he be made aware of my existence. You must promise me this."

"You're telling me that I can't tell you that I'm following your own orders?" Jim asked, incredulous.

"I thought he was logical," Camille muttered under her breath, walking over to stand by the pair of them.

"Why not?" Jim bulldozed on. "What happens?"

"Jim, this is one rule you cannot break," Spock told him. "To stop Nero, you alone must take command of your ship."

"How? Over your dead body?"

"Because that's about what it's going to look like," Camille said.

"Preferably not," Spock said. "However, there is Starfleet Regulation 619. Six-one-nine states that any command officer who's emotionally compromised by the mission at hand must resign said command."

Camille's eyes widened, and she suddenly understood. Spock, making eye contact with her, nodded.

Jim, however, was still confused. Looking back and forth between the pair of them, he said, "So, you're saying that I have to emotionally compromise you…guys?"

Camille smacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" he groaned, staring at her. "What was _that_ for?"

"Were you not part of that emotional transference in the cave?" she asked. "The job's already done, you bozo!"

Jim, still rubbing his scalp, looked to Spock as if for affirmation of this fact.

"Jim…I just lost my planet," the old Vulcan said, his voice tremoring with suppressed grief. "I can tell you, I am emotionally compromised. What you must do is get me to show it."

There was silence for a few moments between the three of them. Camille steeled her nerves. If a fight with Spock was what it came down to, she was ready for that. But she personally hoped it didn't. After the insight she'd gotten into their captain today, she wasn't quite looking forward to the idea of sparring with someone that broken.

"Aye, then laddie," came Scott's voice from behind them, breaking the reverie. "Live or die. Let's get this over with."

"That's cheerful," Camille said, going with Jim to stand in one of the three beaming pads.

Before she could get there, however, Spock Prime grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.

"Whatever is done to get me to cooperate," he told her, "it must be done by Kirk, and Kirk alone. You must not assist in any way, Lieutenant Osbourne."

She stared at him, then looked over to Jim. He was stock still in the transporter, obviously not hearing a word they were saying. Keeping her voice low, she said, "But why? I'm only here because I stick by my friends no matter the cost. Why can't I – "

"Lieutenant," Spock said, "you must trust me on this. Let Jim and I handle this on our own, and I promise you, you will one day see the benefit of it."

Camille frowned, but nodded. In spite of everything in her screaming not to, she did innately trust Spock Prime – thought Spock Jr., she wasn't so sure of.

As she went to stand in the transporter on Jim's right, she looked over to her left and saw Keenser attempting to get into Scott's transporter. She realized with a sinking feeling that these were only meant to warp one, no matter what equation Spock had come up with from the future.

In his abrasive manner, Scott brushed Keenser away. "You cannae come with me. Go on. Go on."

The little Roylan looked to Camille for assistance, and she gave him a begrudging smile.

"Sorry, little friend," she said. "See you soon."

Jim leaned forward on one of the rails and looked hard at Spock. "You know, coming back in time, changing history, that's cheating."

Camille grinned. He just had to do it, didn't he?

Spock nodded, almost sheepishly. "A trick I learned from an old friend."

Camille's grin widened, and she looked over at Jim. He took that in for a few moments. Scott, meanwhile, clearly had no idea what they were talking about.

"Fill you in later," Camille told him. In spite of everything, she was actually beginning to enjoy the man.

Spock activated the transport abilities, then turned back to them, giving them the three-fingered Vulcan salute. "Live long, and prosper," he said.

Jim and Camille straightened up into the beaming position. The last thing she saw before everything faded out was Keenser waving at Scott, and her heart clenched a little. She hoped they could go back for the little guy.

* * *

The next thing Camille knew, the water turbines faded into her vision. She looked over at Jim, still to her left, and looked down at herself. They were intact. They were still fully clothed – thank goodness! And, remarkably, they were aboard the _Enterprise!_ This mad, hare-brained scheme of Spock's had actually worked!

They glanced around them for a trace of Scott, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Mr. Scott," Jim called, the barest trace of concern edging his voice.

There was a banging coming from the inside of the water turbine. Jim's face fell, and Camille felt the blood drain out of hers.

Jim ran up to the basin and pressed up against it. "Mr. Scott, can you hear me?"

Camille stood there, completely paralyzed with confusion, as Scott appeared in one of the drainage pipes going out from the basin to who knew where.

Jim started tapping on the glass, apparently as at a loss as she was.

"Good lord, Jim, he's not a fish!" she growled.

"Uh… hold on a second!" Jim shouted as the water began to pull Scott along. The man gave a cry as he was sucked through the pipes.

"Oh, no," Jim muttered, and they ran along the pipe's edge.

As Jim attempted to deal with Scott's predicament, Camille thought she vaguely heard someone off to the side calling, "Jim?"

Whirling, she found Karina racing at them. Wishing she could wait for the kid but finding no time to slow down, Camille continued in her race after Jim and Scott.

"Don't worry, I…" Jim called, then threw his hands up in the air. Who was he kidding? This was the perfect time to be worried.

"Jim! Cam!" Karina screamed at them, pulling up alongside. "What happened? How did you - ?"

"Really long story which we currently have no time for, Kar," Camille told her. Briefly stopping and grabbing Karina by the shoulders, she said, "Look. Someone needs to get up there and inform Spock we're back. Can you do that for me?"

"What?" Karina asked, astounded. "Why would you want – "

Suddenly her voice trailed off, and she pointed at something in the mid-distance.

Camille whirled only to see what the Engineering, Weapons, and pretty much any officer wearing a red shirt more-or-less affectionately called the Whirling Blade Vortex of Death at the end of this long set of pipes. What its purpose was, she wasn't sure – she was supposed to be in charge of the ship's weaponry, not its inner workings – but either way, it now served to make a nasty ending for Mr. Scott.

"Go!" she told Karina, then ran after Jim, shedding her parka.

"Jim!" she called to him in a warning tone. He looked over from where he'd been watching Scott get sucked up a vertical tube to where she had her gaze currently locked.

Camille knew she was the only one of them who should know how to work the emergency release valve – except maybe Scott himself – but she was too far away at the moment. So she settled for screaming at Jim, "Hatch! Valve! Get to the Control Board!"

He obliged her, pressing in some random numbers which, to Camille's utter shock, worked marvelously.

 _"Turbine release valve activated."_

Camille skidded to a stop, and Jim whirled to watch as the valve opened itself with perfect timing, sending Scott and a shower of water raining down on them. Camille found herself completely soaked, along with their new companion.

"You all right?" she asked him, as Jim came over and helped the man into a sitting position.

"You all right?" he echoed, a little more urgently.

Appearing to regain some sort of breathing ability, the man started coughing up water. When he could talk again, he said, "My head's buzzin', and I'm soaked, but otherwise I'm fine!"

Camille looked around. Apparently Karina had listened to her and taken off back for the bridge.

"Boys," she said. "We're going to have company very soon."


End file.
